From Kerala to Paris: Yashaswini’s Art of Memory and Belonging

What does it mean to carry memory when you live far from the place you were born?

For Puthanpurayil Chakkapoyyan Yashaswini, memory is more than just looking back at the past; it feels alive. It shapes who she is, inspires her work, and quietly runs through everything she creates.

She is a young South Asian artist from Kerala, India, now living and working in Paris. Her art often begins with the simplest of moments: a sari left on a chair, a ritual remembered from childhood, or the feeling of someone’s absence that still lingers. To her, these are not small details. They are the pieces that make up a sense of belonging.

Have you ever held on to an image or moment that refuses to fade, no matter how much time passes? That is where Yashaswini’s art begins.

Artist PC Yashaswini is Explaining to the Visitors.

Art of Memory and Belonging

Mosaic is at the centre of Yashaswini’s work. It’s not just about how it looks but also about what it means. For her, mosaic feels like time itself: broken, scattered, and yet able to come together as something whole. Every glass piece, every shard, is like a memory. On its own, it may seem small, but together it becomes part of a bigger story.

She also works with unstretched canvases, embroidery, and fabric-like surfaces, which give her art a sense of touch and closeness. Many of her drawings begin with faceless, genderless figures. In her paintings, these figures slowly fade into the background, and in her sculptures, they disappear completely. It is much like the way memories blur or slip away with time.

Stories in Her Works

Her work Achachi (Granny) is a moving example of this process. Inspired by the memory of her grandmother’s quiet passing in a chair, the lasting image was not her body but her sari draped over the furniture. Yashaswini captures this fragile detail through intricate mosaics arranged in repeating Islamic patterns, insisting on remembering what might otherwise dissolve into silence.

Another work, The Body Left but the Soul Lingered, is shaped by memories of Indian funeral rituals. The body, wrapped in white cloth, is given to fire. What remains is not just ash but also a sense of presence that does not fully disappear. Through both works, Yashaswini shows that absence is not the same as emptiness. It can become another form of presence, carried through materials, textures, and patterns.

Where She Finds Inspiration?

Her inspiration is wide-ranging. She engages with the philosophies of Lee Ufan and Ad Reinhardt, finds resonance in El Anatsui's installations, and often reflects on the writings of Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, and Beckett. Yet more than theory, her art is fueled by her own origin. The cultural practices she grew up with, the stories passed down in her family, and the South Asian ways of seeing the world are what guide her most.

For her, these memories and stories are not just ideas to work with. They are the foundation of her practice. They shape how she looks at life and how she turns personal memory into art that can speak to others, too.

Co-curator Tanisha Gandhi with Gallery Visitor

How Her Work Resonates with Becoming One?

The project is about connecting personal experiences to collective stories, creating spaces where diverse voices can come together. Yashaswini’s art perfectly aligns with the vision of Becoming One. She takes fragments of memory and turns them into forms that remind us how something personal can also speak to many.

As a South Asian artist presenting on a global stage, her practice bridges origin and diaspora, past and present.

Isn’t that what art ultimately does, hold together the fragments we carry and turn them into something we can all share?