ISHITA SACHDEVA

COMPANY SCHOOL ARTISTS

A qualified architect, Ishita Sachdeva showcases the rigid nature of buildings alongside the free-flowing character of plants and flowers in both her digital and watercolour-based works. She combines her mastery of AutoCAD along with her passion for painting and illustrations on Adobe to create her pieces.

An obsessive plant parent, Sachdeva’s set of 12 graphic illustrations reflect her deep interest and knowledge of diverse plant life. She has coupled four architectural elements that include domes, windows, doors and pillars along with overbearing and striking flora to highlight the importance and richness of the sometimes organic and inorganic nature of landscaping.

Despite the contrary nature of the elements in these works, Sachdeva sees similarities between the lines of the intricate jalis, domes and pillars and the linear details of leaves, petals and branches.

Inspired both by traditional botanical artworks as well as architectural drawings, she has used binomials to caption the flora in these works as well as a scale bar as a linear graphic. Employing both traditional and new methods, her conceptual pieces are a unique take on botanicals.

Works

fig. i elevation | shikhara; rhododendron luteum fig. ii elevation | mandapa; strelitzia juncea fig. iii elevation | stupa; nelumbo nucifera fig. iv isometric view | jali; maranta leuconeura fig. v elevation | jali; ginkgo biloba fig. vi isometric | jali; iris germanica fig. vii elevation | jharoka; magnolia lilliflora fig. viii elevation | darwaza; heliconia rostrata fig. ix north, west elevation | jali; begonia maculate fig. x west elevation | stambha alphitonia excelsa fig. xi elevation | stambha; magnolia grandiflora fig. xii east elevation | stambha; alphitonia excelsa each: executed in 2023 each: digital illustration on paper, edition of 3 each: 11.69 x 8.27 inches each: Rs. 10,000 fig. i axonometric |veranda; fig. ii elevation |katghara; fig. iii elevation |minaret each: executed in 2023 each: mixed media on paper each: 16.5 x 11.7 inches each: Rs. 25,000

Sahaya Sharma

Colourist Sahaya Sharma’s works have both abstract and surreal tones. Her detailed compositions of pressed flowers and leaves using cyanotype contact printing stand apart due their luminescence and rich blue shades, making striking visuals.

Cyanotype is one of the oldest photographic printing processes, which were used by botanists to replicate plant specimens. They are made by placing plants onto light sensitive paper, weighing them down with glass and exposing them using sunlight. They were first introduced by scientist and botanist John Herschel in 1842, but it was the botanist and photographer Anna Atkins who first used the cyanotype to create a photographic album of algae specimens in 1843.

Sharma’s floral and coral works employ oil, enamel, acrylic, spray-paint and silver foil on cyanotypes giving them a rustic yet dramatic painterly effect. Her works are influenced by pranic healing and meditation and she overlaps the idea of the old and new to form a fresh narrative. She has widely exhibited her works across India, Singapore and Korea and is known for her large dreamy canvases.

Works

each: Untitled each: executed in 2023 each: oil, enamel, acrylic, spray-paint, silver foil on cyanotype each: 11.69 x 8.27 inches, Rs. 30,000/ 14.5 x 21.5 inches, Rs. 56,000

Mahaveer Swami

Having descended from a family of traditional Bikaner artists, Mahaveer Swami refined the school of painting with an originality and uniqueness among contemporary miniaturists. As a child, he began training with his father and grandfather, and later, studied under the Late Vedpal Sharma "Bannu" who has been the called the “premier exponent of the miniature tradition” by Robert Skelton, a former scholar and curator of Indian art at The Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Swami is a sixth-generation painter in his family.

He is not just a miniaturist, but a renowned painter of botanical subjects. His works in the exhibition are created using natural pigments and pure gold ink on layered handmade paper and silk board. He uses an unusual colour palette which lends an ethereal quality to the paintings.

Swami has exhibited in over fifty private and public institutions in India and internationally (France, Belgium, Israel, United States of America, Japan, Thailand, China, Singapore, Spain and Australia) including Gallery Lafayette in Paris and The Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Works

each: Freesia each: natural pigments on handmade paper each: 7 x 5 inches each: Rs. 94,080

Tulip natural pigments & pure gold/tin inks on layered handmade paper

13 x 6 inches

Rs. 1,00,800

*DIGITAL PRINTS ON ARCHIVAL PAPER BY THE ARTIST ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST*

Chinar Tree natural pigments & pure gold/tin inks on layered handmade paper

12 x 5.5 inches

Rs. 1,34,400

*DIGITAL PRINTS ON ARCHIVAL PAPER BY THE ARTIST ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST* each: Lotuses each: natural pigments & pure gold/tin inks on layered handmade paper each: 4 x 6.5 inches each: Rs. 1,34,400

*DIGITAL PRINTS ON ARCHIVAL PAPER BY THE ARTIST ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST*

Lotuses, Rabbits, Lotuses each: natural pigments & pure gold ink on pure silk board/ natural pigments & pure gold/silver inks on layered handmade paper