A Pitt Meadows-based artist created a seven-foot-tall Nutcracker inspired by her Indian culture and background.
Jag Nagra, who grew up in Maple Ridge and moved to Pitt Meadows in 2020, decided to take the artistic license to create a stunning Nutcracker just before Christmas.
“I’ve been drawn to nutcrackers for the last few years but the more I searched, I realized there were no Indian-inspired nutcrackers so I decided to illustrate one in early December,” said Nagra, who then decided to turn her drawing into a life-size nutcracker. All together, the sculpture stands at seven-feet-tall and is made up of a sonotube, PVC pipes, wood and a small garbage can.
“My art practice is heavily inspired by my Indian roots so I wanted to put my own contemporary spin on the classic icon and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out,” she said.
Nagra, who is currently serving as the creative director of the Punjabi Market Collective, a non-profit organization working to revitalize Vancouver’s historic Punjabi Market, has worked on a number of public art initiatives around Metro-Vancouver and recently collaborated with the Vancouver Canucks to create a special warm-up jersey for their Diwali celebration game this past November.
Her work has since been generating quite a response, and the response to her nutcracker has been phenomenal, she said.
“I’ve gotten great feedback from folks and have gotten a few messages asking where they can purchase one or with offers to buy this one, but we’re going to hold on to him and bring him out into our living room every December,” said Nagra.
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For Nagra, 2021 brought many career highlights including the spotlight on her latest creation. She is now slated to be part of a public art display in Vancouver towards the end of January. Nagra is hopeful that 2022 would prove to be a fruitful year as well, both for her career, as well as to promote all the things she passionately feels about, through art.
“I am passionate about community development, making art accessible and ending the stigma against LGBTQ+ people within the South Asian community,” she said.
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