I N D I A 2008

Over two months in the Himalayan foothills, Mourning created portraits embodying her uncle's spiritual quest as a monk. The series explores both familial connections and broader cultural memory within the ashram where her uncle's Transcendental Meditation practice began—the same hallowed grounds where, decades earlier, the Beatles composed their White Album. Through these dual narratives of familial pilgrimage and musical mythology, Mourning examines how sacred spaces become vessels for both personal transformation and cultural legacy. All the while questioning the notions of American cultural appropriation and this need to escape one’s own place of orgin to find oneself.