Jason Cheriyan (b. 1968 India) studied fashion design at the College of Arts and Crafts in Chennai and at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in New Delhi. After his graduation from N.I.F.T. in 1990, Cheriyan designed home accessories that were sold at Saks Fifth Avenue and other high-end stores in the U.S. in addition to clothing. He worked in the fashion trade for only a few years before receiving the Damania Award for best young designer. Jason Cheriyan opened his own business called Anewand launched the “Jason Cheriyan” label that retailed at boutiques in Bangalore, Kolkata, and Delhi. Cheriyan masterfully plays with textures, patterns, and colors in his work as well as balances the senses of elegance and ease. His products included woman’s clothing, accessories, bags, shoes and home furnishings. This line was presented and sold in India, Spain, Austria, the U.K. Germany and the U.S.

In 2006, Jason Cheriyan married Delhi designer Anshu Arora and launched the "Jasonanshu" label. Soon afterwards they established the "Small Shop" brand and opened Small Shop stores within two prestigious addresses in Bangalore: the fashion boutique Raintree, and Yamini, an exclusive home furnishings store overlooking Ulsoor Lake. In 2007, the duo won the Elle Décor International Design Awards (EDIDA) in the bed category. The same year, Cheriyan was invited to be part of a team of artists and designers who created limited edition pieces for the 25th Anniversary celebration of the famed London restaurant, Bombay Brasserie. Small Shop was the first off the block when they began a line of high-end kids wear in 2008. In 2010, Cheriyan and Arora designed the costumes for Chronotopia, a multi-media dance production by the National School of Drama. Jason Cheriyan lives and works in Bangalore India.

Jason Cheriyan was the Artist-in-Residence for the month of May, 2005. He spent his time at the museum working in the artist’s apartment in the Carriage House and exploring textiles and lace in Gardner’s collection. Cheriyan made several visits to the Textile and Objects Conservation Labs at the Gardner to use the microscope to look at intricate stitching and the weave structure of several pieces including clothing fragments, a small tapestry, lace and yardage depicting flamingos. In Archives he looked at Mrs. Gardner’s travel scrapbooks from India and Japan, a magnificently illuminated Book of Hours from 15th century France, and a book of Albrecht Durer woodcuts from 1510. During his stay he also visited the American Textile History Museum and historic mills in Lowell and was able to gain access behind the scenes and view a broad range of textiles and clothing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, in addition to visits to other institutions in the area.