Designed by Jaishree Srinivasan, Canberra, Act, 1995. Srinivasan was born in Madras, India in 1954, and educated in Tamilnadu at a convent of European nuns. She graduated in Fine Arts at the University of Madras in 1974, and subsequently trained in the United States and Australia, completing an Associate Diploma in Ceramics at the Canberra School of Art.

Srinivasan seeks to merge traditional Indian ideas of decoration and function with artists' current concerns about the status and meaning of objects. 'In Indian culture a woman's inheritance consists of those household objects that are portable, not land or property. Srinavasan has drawn from this realm to construct her forms, food carriers, storage chests, and ritual vessels....The decorative features recall architectural motifs, or the ornamentation found on beaten metalware'. (Patterning in Layers of Contemporary Meaning Art: 1997)

Srinivasan notes that the Tiffin Carrier is part of a series in which she was exploring her identity and how she has been able to 'recreate' herself in Australia. "It deals with memories of rituals around the preparation of food,in this case the tiffin carrier. The handle relates the 'story' about the tiffin carrier, which would be brought at lunch time to the school yard by a person who carried several such tiffin carriers in a basket. The squirrels and the birds would wait their turn to feed from the food scraps. Squirrels had a special place in my childhood because of Ramayana stories about how they helped Rama make a bridge to get across to Sri Lanka. He stroked them and that is how they acquired their stripes" (Jaishree Srinivasan: 1998).

Made by Jaishree Srinivasan using white earthenware, wheel thrown, assembled, terrasigillata slips, oxidation firing, 1100 C.

Signed and dated on underside of stand.

Exhibited in the touring exhibition 'Patterning in Contemporary Art: Layers of Meaning', Canberra School of Art, Australian National University, 1997.

Included in the Powerhouse Museum and Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art's exhibition Contemporary Australian Craft, in Sapporo, Takaoka and Shiga (Japan) in 1999.

Straight cylindrical form consisting of (-2:3)two stacked bowls, on (-1)wide base sitting on three small inverted conical feet. On each side, a figure holding a vessel on their heads with squirrels sitting on their shoulders. Shaped handle with pointed knobs. (-4)Domed cover with looped knop and (-5)spoon-like clasp inserted horizontally through handle and knop on cover. Overall colour dark green with bands of white and orange.

Designed: Srinivasan, Jaishree; Canberra, Australian Capital Territory; 1995


Used: Canberra School of Art; Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

(-1) Hand signed and dated 'Jai Sri '95' on underside of base.

98/154/1

1995

500 mm

270 mm