Miles Saraswat is a multidisciplinary artist currently based on the unceded traditional territories of the xÊ·mÉ™θkÊ·É™yÌ“É™m (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sÉ™lilwÉ™taɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations (Vancouver, Canada). Recently relocating from Treaty One Territory (Winnipeg), Miles is pursuing studies at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. His creative practice includes painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, music, and writing.
Miles’ work focuses on South-Asian cultural traditions, using intricate patterns and vibrant imagery. The sunflower is an ongoing motif in his art, which serves as a symbol of growth, warmth, and spiritual connection. By connecting traditional South-Asian visual languages into his work, Miles investigates the complexities of living in the South-Asian diaspora. His practice explores identity, belonging, and community through a deeply personal lens.
Central to Miles’ practice is the reclamation and redefinition of Hindu-spiritual practices in reflection with intersections of queer identity. Miles’ work often brings together imagery of the sun, figures, nature, and the rich visual vocabulary of South-Asian art, creating pieces that are both vivid and deeply layered.
Recently Miles has been working with themes of family tied into the diasporic experience. By looking inward at his experiences throughout childhood growing up in Edmonton, then Winnipeg, and finally Vancouver, Miles explores what it means to be a brown person moving across Canada. Through this introspection, Miles explores how his experience is impacted by movement, both generationally through his family’s immigration and personally within his life.
By merging cultural tradition with personal and environmental narratives, Miles creates work that invites viewers to think about how culture, identity, and connection evolve across generations and borders.