Kolam Textile Artwork: Examining the Impact of Handmade Kolam Textile Artwork on the Viewer’s Wellbeing.

This research explores how Kolam textile art impacts the viewer’s wellbeing when displayed in various settings like healthcare and public spaces. The transition of an ephemeral, Indian traditional, decorative art called Kolam to a permanent, contemporary artwork, appealing to a variety of Western audiences is investigated in this research. The study also justifies why and how Kolam patterns are used as a visual aid for wellbeing in various spaces. Apart from Kolam, wellbeing elements chosen from the visual arts and textile arts are also examined individually to combine and translate into a Kolam textile artwork. For the active research, a final model of a handmade Kolam textile artwork and a digital version of the same are displayed side by side in a diverse range of settings to reach a wide variety of audiences. This thesis choses a qualitative methodology of content analysis of the viewers' responses through questionnaires.