Kerala mural painting is a historically significant visual storytelling tradition that communicates Hindu mythological narratives through symbolic imagery, natural pigments, and sacred architectural surfaces. Within Kerala’s cultural context, these murals function not merely as decorative paintings but as carriers of cultural memory, ritual atmosphere, and inherited ways of seeing. As this visual tradition becomes less visible within contemporary material culture, this paper explores how its narrative language can be translated from wall to textile through laser-etched fashion surfaces. Drawing from selected garments in a practice-based MFA design collection, the study examines the development of Kadhavastram, a textile storytelling approach that encodes mythological imagery into natural-fiber and naturally dyed fabrics. The project uses laser etching not as surface embellishment but as a method of inscription, allowing stories, symbols, and sacred visual references to become materially embedded into cloth. By burning into the textile surface, laser etching creates tonal contrast, depth, tactility, and material traces, echoing the layered presence of mural imagery while transforming it into a wearable form. The etched narratives are further cut into mandala-inspired modular units and assembled into garment sculptures. This modular system allows the pieces to be rearranged, resized, and restyled, connecting symbolic storytelling with sustainable design principles of adaptability, reuse, and reduced size dependency. By combining Kerala mural traditions, natural materials, laser technology, and modular construction, this research proposes textile surfaces as living narrative spaces where cultural memory can be carried, touched, reconfigured, and worn.

Authors:
Lasya Aji Silpa, Appalachian State University, United States
Barbara Trippeer, University of North Texas, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Lasya Aji Silpa is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Design, Appalachian State University, NC United States

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