Suit Of Armor / Portrait of Dad
Steel, engraved song of Khalsa
A protective shield handmade for me by me based off of the Sikh religion , intended to be carried with me everyday and act as a protective spiritual barrier.
In this project, I chose to explore my fathers religious heritage. As a Sikh man he is required to carry a kirpan (a dagger) on him at all times as a form of protection as part of a religious commandment by the Guru Sikh in which he demanded that all sikhs must wear the five articles of faith (5 k’s) at all times. The word has two roots kirpa, meaning "mercy", "grace", "compassion" or "kindness"; and aanaa, meaning "honor", "grace" or "dignity". Sikhs are expected to embody the qualities of a Sant Sipahi or "saint-soldier" with the courage to defend the rights of all who are wrongfully oppressed or persecuted irrespective of their colour, caste, or creed. I was fascinated with all of this research I found once looking into and delving further into the religion and wanted to create a kripan of my own to protect me. The song of khalsa that I carved into one of the suits is a song that is song every day before prayer in temple, it is a very important and well known song for the Sikhs.