v((PKG)) TEXTILE ARTIST CONNECTS CULTURES ((TRT: 05:10)) ((Topic Banner: Textile Without Borders)) ((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry)) ((Camera/Editor: Mike Burke)) ((Map:??Ashburn, Virginia)) ((Main characters: 1 female)) ((Sub characters: 1 female)) ((NATS: Khadija Painting)) ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) My name is Khadija Sareshwala. I live in Ashburn. I've been married for four years now and I have a two-year-old daughter. I'm a textile artist. I call myself an artist that takes all the traditional techniques into a very modernistic perspective. ((NATS)) I think my style is very unique. I don't have a very set way of working. ((NATS)) I lived in the U.K. for almost seven to eight years. And then I moved back to India. I lived in Mumbai which is a very cosmopolitan city. ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) I think my style is more free-flowing, I would say. I, when I'm painting, I'm usually using lots of brush strokes which are direct. ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) So, this is a very interesting batik piece. This is used, made using naphthol dyes. And it’s, that's more of an Indian batik. This is like an abstract sun with flowers. And that’s how Malaysian batik was very inspiring to me. And I've been doing Malaysian batik for a very long time. But this is one of the pieces. This is a peacock inspired with feathers, you know. The colors are very neutral, yet it's popping in like this, the greens. This is another one. It's very geometric, like blues and shades of blues. So, it is my batik, a lot of textures and florals and even the geometry is not very straight. And imperfection sometimes is the best form of beauty, I guess. ((NATS)) ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) Batik is basically a resist method. Now, I use wax as a resist method. So, when I’m applying, I'm painting with wax first so that the wax does not allow the dye to permeate into the area where I've painted. ((NATS: Khadija is applying wax on the fabric)) ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) I use mostly silks. I take the inspiration from various, different arts and, you know, prints. The African prints, it’s something that really strikes me. So, the color combinations are something that I look at. Then, there is Malaysian batik, Indonesian batik, that's the style I'm using for my work right now. ((NATS: Khadija finishing the waxing process and starting ironing her work)) ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) Once it's dried, I treat it and then I iron it out and I, you know, take the wax out, basically do the process of removing the wax. That’s called dewaxing. And that's how you get these certain, you know, textures. ((NATS: Khadija showing her fish design)) ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) There are some Indian forms where, you know, you see a lot of like the square, which is a form of art called Madhubani. So, that's an inspiration from there. It's these motifs that they use specifically, it's like into triangles. I really like using geometry in my work. This is the inspiration, I would say, from the American culture, right? The Christmas and the snowman, the lights that you see. ((NATS)) ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) American culture is definitely very open to different cultures. So, that's one thing I got, like it is accepting of all cultures. That's one plus, that's the biggest advantage over here, that you see different people. ((NATS: More of Khadija’s production)) ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) My brand’s name is Khadija. It's just my personality out there. So, when somebody is having, like wearing something, you know, it's just something that I've created. ((NATS)) Hi. How are you? Good. How is it going? Oh, it's pretty good. ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) I want my brand to be a diversified brand that has everybody in it. ((NATS)) I like how you're able to choose a style and stick to it but be able to make it almost feel personal to the buyer. Wow. Because you can create it, you know, like you can manipulate the design because it's your own, Yeah. Which is really, really impressive. ((NATS)) ((Khadija Sareshwala, Textile Artist)) I definitely have an exhibit that I want to do. That's my dream. But I want to also conduct some workshops just to share or give the experience of, you know, the batik or block print, even tie-dye. Even if it's traditional method, right? you can really make it your own, like I have done it. ((NATS)) Tie-dye and batik are my favorite mediums. It’s extremely therapeutic process for me. Just throwing colors, seeing what kind of results I'm going to get, is something I look forward to. ((NATS))