1. Channeling my creative drive and energy is central to my practice in the studio. I believe that studying a Fine Art degree will allow me to focus on developing new work and ideas whilst broadening my understanding of all possibility. The submitted works revolve around the theme of cultural identity. Like many other UK citizens I was born into a Hindu family and grew up living in Britain. Throughout my life there have always been strong cultural differences that have affected my lifestyle and beliefs; this has left me feeling frustrated.<br />Within my practice my main aim is to blur the boundaries between Hindu and British culture. I think that having influences from two different cultures is good, if not better, but it can lead to social conflict and frustration for many. In reaction to this I have felt inclined to explore the difficulties surrounding living in a world with two cultures. This underlying frustration and indecision is how I fuel my work and channel my emotions. I use my emotion, memories and cultural idiosyncrasies to explore a subjective identity within the work. It keeps me balanced and level headed.<br />Initially my main influence was my family. More recently I gain inspiration from artists such as Subodh Gupta, Tracey Emin and Shirin Neshat. Gupta has produced large sculptures made out of Indian pots and pans, focusing on the idea of the readymade; a found object. Although I am not entirely focusing on the idea of the readymade, working with found objects is something I have used as a starting point. I am now exploring performance in combination with other digital processes allied to robust handmade traditional processes associated with different cultures.<br />I am now experimenting with henna tattoos. Henna or ‘Mehndi’ is a traditional example of a semi permanent tattoo in the Hindu culture. It is used primarily to decorate the body at weddings and celebrations. The significant foundation of knowledge is derived from my lifestyle. I often perform a self analysis; this helps me in trying to better understand why these two cultures can’t always coalesce together, why then this has left me feeling confused and poses the question of what I can do about it? I have also taken into consideration my Mums life, as my Mum is the only completely Indian influence in my life.<br />I intend to develop my practice towards constructing installation, performance, video, photographic work and 3D. Alongside this I also want to communicate a social awareness regarding issues that are in different cultural societies. For example, social customs, behavior characteristics associated with non secular custom and practice. I think it’s important and relevant to try and communicate these very personal and powerful issues since England is vastly becoming home for many different cultures. Ignorance here is dangerous since misunderstanding could potentially create rifts and division. I am passionate about bringing division together to create a “non culture” culture. So, it’s not really a culture in the end. <br />Roshni Bhagotra – February 2011 <br /> <br />