Encountering Indian miniature paintings made with natural and semi-precious stone pigments sparked a lasting curiosity in my practice. I was drawn to how these historically rich materials like crushed rocks, stones, and metal dusts, could be reimagined through contemporary abstraction rather than figurative traditions. This interest led me to the forests of Himachal Pradesh, where I began collecting minerals such as mica and other stones. Hand grinding these materials into pigments made physical labour an integral part of the process, creating a direct connection between land, body, and surface. Through abstraction, I explore how material, history, and place can acquire new meaning beyond their traditional contexts.