Jas Dhillon - ਜਸਵੀਰ ਕੌਰ ਢਿਲੋ

It still hasn't sunk in,  but last week my Mamma Ji (my mums youngest brother) became an ancestor. He has been the patriarch of our family home in India since my Bhapa Ji (grandfather) passed away 30 years ago. I've never known family life in my maternal house in Punjab without him. Always the life and soul of the party. Singing, joking, working, playing... winding us up.  Home in our village house is never going to be the same again. When I close my eyes I can hear his laugh, and see his hands and feet - which are just like my mums. Fly free Mamma Ji, and take our love to the others 💜 And thank you for all the scooter rides... little me never felt more cool. 🛵😎🙏🏽💕

So pleased to have been selected to show my piece 'Cotton Crown' as part of the group show TOUCH GRASS, alongside so many incredible artists, curated and hosted by @creativedebuts @otherbox @studio404.world . Private View 4th June 6pm - 9pm (rsvp via link in bio) 'Cotton Crown' was inspired by the farmers protests in India (2020-2021), using utility turban fabric (parna) and words from the Sikh scriptures (Guru Granth Sahib), it seeks to represent the spirituality and reverence with which land is tended to and cared for by these farming communities. TOUCH GRASS explores the creative energy of being outside. Shaped by public space, street culture, nature and our “OFFLINE BY DESIGN” ethos. TOUCH GRASS celebrates the world that exists beyond the screen: graffiti walls, skate spots, the intersection between nature and mankind, street photography, sport, protest, architecture, fashion, park life and the everyday rituals of people gathering outside. It is about presence over performance, connection over consumption, and what becomes possible when we log off, step outside, and enjoy what life has to offer in shared, community spaces.

My fave place at the most magical time of the year.... Bluebell Season 💜

From the archives, a picture of me, my youngest sister, and my even younger cousin. Dad's in Punjab at the moment, and finding old baby pictures of us, which my mum must have sent via airmail when we were little. I remember receiving picturs of my little cousins from the village when they were born too. Bless my mum, she had to wait till we were 8, 6 and 4, before she got to introduce us to her family in real life. It was 1987 when we visited India for the first time as a family, and the first time my mum got to go back to India since getting married to my dad and moving to Chatham in 1978. 💕

💕💜💛🎨🙏🏽🎉 Because the world needs this energy now,  more then ever - Happy Holi and Holla Mohalla eveyone! A time to celebrate the conquering of good over evil,  your own strength, equality and justice, divinity and protection, the arrival of spring, and your loved ones. Wishing you all of the Holi colour, abundannce, fearlessness, and love!!!! 🙏🏽🥭🎉🎈🌈☝🌱💛💜💕🌹🎨🌻 I took these photos this time 3 years ago, when I had the honour of celebrating Hola Mohalla in Anandpur Sahib, through a sequence of events that logic can not explain. I can't thank my brothers @the.spartansingh @bhupinder1699singh @nanaks_nomad enough for the care they took of me and the experience they enabled me to have.... 🙏🏽 Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, Anandpur Sahib is the birthplace of the Khalsa and the spiritual heart of the annual Sikh festival of Hola Mohalla. These photographs bear witness to this festival - a ceremonial military procession established by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, in the seventeenth century. Hola Mohalla is a living enactment of devotion, discipline and collective strength. Martial demonstrations sit alongside prayer, music, storytelling and communal gathering, honouring Sikh values of courage, service and spiritual resilience. Central to festivities are the Nihang Singhs, or Akalis, a distinctive warrior order within Sikhism, recognisable by their indigo robes, turbans and carried arms. The Nihangs embody a nomadic tradition grounded in ceremony, martial practice and prayer. I love celebrating the energies of this festival at any opportunity I get. The demonstrations of martial skill, alongside acts of care, adornment and tenderness. The tending of horses, the scattering of flower petals, the playfulness of coloured powder, the communal making and distribution of langar (blessed food served from outdoor community kitchens)... The ancestory, devotion, joy, strength, care, movement, music, poetry, sacredity, seva, and power, are a potent and beautiful mix ✨️ @offseasonmargate @archival_print @lucy.lyons @peopledemcollective

Reunion Pic 💕📷👭🏽 This is me and Andrea age 46. A whole 25 years since we last saw each other at her 21st birthday party. We were 2 thirds of a trio of best friends (Charlotte, Andrea, me) from the age of 3 (at nursery) until the age of 11, when we went to separate secondary schools. We bumped into each other (very literally) in Holland and Barrett in our home town of Rochester yesterday afternoon. We instantly made a plan to meet for a cuppa later that afternoon. It felt so weird taking the steps from my parental home to hers. A journey I'd done a thousand times as a kid, when we would knock for each other to go out to play. Or to hangout in each others houses. I loved that she had a trampette in her bedroom, and her walls were covered in pictures of Madonna. I loved how her mum and dad would take me in, and show me so much love. And how she would come to my house, and joyfully eat the buttered roties that my mum would make. I loved how we would memorise the words to songs from the pages of Smash Hits magazine, and then make up dance routines. 🥰 This little world was so safe and so loving, and I'm so grateful for the joy and innocence it afforded me as a young brown girl in a very white and working class town in Medway. Our worlds have changed a lot in the 25 years since we last saw each other, but our love and cheesiness are holding strong x 💕🧀

The rain and the wind are doing their best, but almost 6 weeks in, she's hanging in there. Still smiling and serving up the sunny mango flavour (with a few face tatts now too) 🌞🥭🐻🧸💕🌧☔️🖌 @exhibit69 @offseasonmargate @maximillianboxer

Taking a moment to think about the beauty and the rituals we inherit from our ancestors, the faiths and belief systems that carried them through, and the ceremonies and traditions they protected so sacredly so that we may know them, and drink from them today. My mum became an ancestor when I was 15 years old, and I hadn't noticed it until after she'd physically gone, that I had inherited her hands, as well as her deep reverence for the Sikh faith, and the rituals and traditions that go with it. These images taken by @jessicalauren1001 from the work i presented at this year's @offseasonmargate (revisiting my pilgrimage to Anandpur in 2023 for the sacred Sikh festival of Holla Mohalla) touch me so deeply. They feel somehow timeless, and inhabited by my mum. Evoking a beauty and a grief, equally. A reminder that we are each the echoes of our ancestors.

💕💟🌸💮 'It's a love thing'... 🌚🔥🏮🗓🧧 On this New Moon, Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse, and Lunar New Year, it feels appropriate to give thanks and reflect on what was the most beautiful Saturday. 'It's a love thing' - a day hosted by @discovery_planet_0 as part of the closing weekend of the @ramsgate.winter.festival and @light.up.ramsgate . 🎨✏️🖍💕💬📷🎶💭😊🫖☕️🍫 When I was asked to be part of the light trail with my neon artwork 'Unconditional' (dedicated to the Unconditional love of the divine feminine Mother Nature), I didn't think I'd get to programme a whole day dedicated to some of my favourite things - creativity and community, love and connection, photography and music, writing and reflecting, tea and doodling, chillin and hot chocolate! Thank you for inviting me @nhildesley , and thanks for joining me: @zigsdigs with your inspiring photos of hearts you've collected over the years, and for reminding us that if you look for it you'll find love in more places and more often than you tonk. @moa.music for bringing your magical voice and Kora, and sharing it with everyone with so much heart. My heart was soooooo full, especially hearing you sing the song 'Woman' under the glow of my own interpretation of the divine feminine. And most of all thanks to the 150+ members of the local community that passed through to explore, share and spread the LOVE with us ❤️ 📷 Here's some photos of the day beautifully captured by @emilyroseparrisphotography . @creativelivescl @artsinramsgate @ramsgate_space

On Valentine’s Day we embraced the alchemy of love. Where there is love, fear cannot survive. It was a wholesome beautiful day where we embraced our soul firewall. We lifted our vibrations. Was honoured to take part of this very special day journey curated by Jas Dhillon’s enjoying her artwork and practice at Ramsgate space. As part of the closing weekend of Ramsgate Winter Festival alongside @discovery_planet_0 and @artsinramsgate 💗 Love was and everywhere on this magical day and it finished off with ethereal music by MOA performing with her enchanting voice complimented by the soothing sounds of her Kora Thank you to all whom made it happen @jasbir3 @moa.music @emilyroseparrisphotography @Discovery_planet_0 @creativelivescl @Ramsgate_space @Ramsgate.winter.festival @ramsgatearts.club

A lovely shot of my artwork - 'Unconditional' as part of @ramsgate.winter.festival and @light.up.ramsgate , and supported by @discovery_planet_0 . Come and see it until Saturday 14th Feb at @ramsgate_space - where we will be holding space to celebrate the energy of 'love', illuminated by the pink glow of my interpretation of the unconditional love of the divine feminine, Mother Nature. Reposted with @reshare_app • @ramsgate.winter.festival ✨ Love, Light & Togetherness ✨ It's coming up to the final weekend of Ramsgate Winter Festival and as we draw to a close, we come together in a gentle celebration of love & community, rounding off a magical programme that's been lighting up the town during the darkest months. This last chapter of the Festival is an invite to everyone! An invite to spend time together and enjoy Ramsgate as we leave the twinkling lights of winter, welcoming in the lighter days of Spring. What's on this weekend? ⭐️ 12–6pm | It’s a Love Thing A free, drop-in creative day celebrating love, connection and care in all its forms with artist @jasbir3 . Window painting, postcards and playful mark-making; discover hidden images with Ziggy; and pause to listen and unwind with the warm sounds of MOA’s Kora at @ramsgate_space . ✨1–4pm | We Are Ramsgate Get your photo taken with the beautiful We Are Ramsgate community heart. Pick up a loyalty card and start collecting stamps while celebrating the people and places that make Ramsgate special. 🌟 2pm | Samba Ya Wantsum Drumming Workshop Join Samba Ya Wantsum for an interactive drumming workshop, inviting everyone to take part and build rhythm together. 💫 3pm | Samba Ya Wantsum Pop-Up Parade A joyful burst of colour, movement and sound as Samba Ya Wantsum take the energy out into Charlotte Court for a pop-up parade. 💛 The Mechanical Heart Artist @felicityjonesmetal illuminated sculpture The Mechanical Heart will be lit with special Valentine’s-themed lighting design by Light Up Ramsgate. Hot fruit tea and cordial will be available throughout the day at Ramsgate Space, with hot chocolate served from 4–6pm.

Obsessed with these lovely shots of Bindu the Brown Bear taken by the amazing @jessicalauren1001 🐻🥭💜 I'm so gassed that @exhibit69 said yes to creating an Indian version of his iconic bear, to bring my concept for 'Let's Pretend...' to life. I love her sooooo much! For me now,  but also for baby me - who in her wildest dreams would never have imagined doing anything so bold, so visible, or so indian, on a public wall, or in collaboration with anyone as awesome as @exhibit69 . 'Let's Pretend...' is rooted in a reflection of our times, but at its core, it's an excuse to publically share some nostalgic joy, maybe evoke a smile, spark a bit of curiosity, and add some colour to an otherwise washed out space. No need to go through a door, up/down any stairs, to make a date, or need for an invitation. Thank you to @offseasonmargate for creating a time and a space, that inspired me to create something so unknowingly important to me. And to @peopledemcollective for giving me the invaluable space and support, to explore and find my creative voice. 🤎