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Golden Affection

Ragavee Balendran

Profile picture of Ragavee Balendran

Hello! I'm Ragavee, an Illustrator whose bold and colourful illustrations are inspired by my British and Tamil-Sri Lankan dual heritage, and represent a diverse community from all walks of life. My work is influenced by my interests in cultural and social topics from both British and South Asian communities, creating fun and colourful imagery. I have worked on various commissions, from editorial illustrations to community worksheets, for the British Council and magazines like gal-dem.

Hello! I'm Ragavee, an Illustrator whose bold and colourful illustrations are inspired by my Brit...

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This project is a love letter to my mother.

Before her passing, she had given me her collection of gold jewellery, a physical collection of financial security. A tradition passed down in the community of South Asian women, where historically they once had no assets of their own, had used jewellery as a commodity to help invest in any financial crisis. In my mother's eyes, this was her way of looking after me after her passing. However, for me, this collection was an embodiment of her legacy and a sign of love from my mother.

I created a series of prints highlighting the tradition of passing gold jewellery and the duality of commodity and sentimental value passed through each generation of women. It illustrates the older generations' view of gold jewellery being sold and used as an emergency fund in a crisis, to the new generations valuing the emotional embodiment of their mother and ancestors. It has a small zine alongside, narrating this embodiment of love from the historical to the current significance of gold jewellery has in South Asian women's lives.

In Loving Memory of Malini Balendran

Final work

The monoprints showcasing gold jewellery and women are aligned in a row on the wall.

Golden Affection - Monoprint series

A series of monoprints that illustrate the deep historical richness and emotional value that gold inheritance has within South Asian women and their legacy. Using a mix of research visuals and my photograph series to produce this narrative in this series of prints.

  • A monoprint of a mother affectionately watching her daughter touch her gold necklace.
  • A hand holding a 19th century South Asian gold Thali (wedding necklace) which is currently in the V&A.
  • A monoprint referencing a old portrait of an Indian woman adorned in gold jewellery.
The photos being displayed on the wall with ceramic frames

Golden Affection - Photography Series

A series of photographs that captures three generations of South Asian women and their collection of gold jewellery. These images share the connection of how gold gifting is an affectionate tie between the different generations and highlights its emotional value rather than its historic connection of being a commodity. I also created these ceramic frames as experiments, but tied to the series of monoprints.

  • Grandmother affectionately looking at her granddaughter
  • Mother fixing her daughter's gold earrings
  • Grandmother is putting a gold necklace around her daughters neck.

Research and process

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Golden Affection

This project is a love letter to my mother.Before her passing, she had given me her collection of gold jewellery, a physical collection of financial security. A tradition passed down in the community of South Asian women, where historically they once had no assets of th...

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