III.

Man&Bird

Development of characters & stories

The man finds himself in different situations while talking to the bird. Reality keeps shifting and there is no control over time and space. He struggles all the time and argues with the bird. Man is nothing without bird and bird is nothing without man, their existence depends on each other. The drawings on the left page are explorations of the conversations between man and bird.

Typography

Letters & numbers

As an exercise to understand the abstraction of the man’s body and the infinite possibilities of movement. I designed typography by imagining each alphabet as a movement. The numbers using the bird were an extension of this idea.

Tomorrow never knows IV. Playlist story of the quarantine experiences

Tomorrow Never Knows’ is a 21 track playlist narrated via a 5 part story that resonates with the covid-19 state of mind. It feels like a forgotten memory from childhood. What is it like to be home? What does the morning light feel like? How beautiful it is to sit on the swing and watch my mother read the newspaper. To know how much effort it takes to make home, a home. To experience family bonds is not only shrunghar,(beauty) but also full of rasas(emotions).

This pandemic has created a silence in the world but it has evoked many inner melodies, each with a different raga (tune) playing and tuning with our thoughts and mood. The experience of living together is difficult. We fight, we love, we laugh, we cry. It is a mixture of every emotion and a test of love and honesty.

Fictionalise V. Illustrated story on guitar

Always fascinated by the stories of the land before time and the cartoon character Samurai Jack, I began to fantasise what an ideal life away from reality could mean. Deep in the forests, surrounded by waterfalls and dense foliage of trees covering the sky and inspired by the Galapagos turtles, I began to weave the narrative of musical jungle where creatures are in harmony and rhythm through the metaphor of music on which the narrative was built on.

The final output is a scenic view of a band improvising with the forest painted on a guitar. A warrior is lost in the forest in search of harmony and muse. He is surrounded by tranquil sounds of the wild. A monkey plays percussion, birds sing the chorus, a tiger on the synthesiser is hiding in the bushes. Thus the different mystic creatures of the forest are befriended by the warrior.

Narrating Crafts VI.

A Book project encompassing 24 narrative crafts of India

The idea is to see the craft as a holistic narrative. Studying its geographical and visual influences, the team developed maps, motifs and 2 detailed illustrations. The first illustration is a contemporary interpretation to see how the craft can mold into an unlikely story that usually artisans would not represent traditionally. The second illustration is replicating a traditional story (that artisans would usually take up) and contemporarizing the visual style after studying its visual language. The combination of these form one chapter that act as a visual delicacy of each craft in the coffee table book.

Pixel-ed Jungle VII.

Mosaic jungle in an urban home

Experimenting with the mosaic square grid and making forms out of the technique, I have tried to create forms as simple as possible so that the distance of the viewer and the artwork compliment each other. To understand the simplicity of forms I took inspiration from Bauhaus’s famous Textile designer Anni Albers’ work and studied the use of colours and overlapping of shapes to derive a visual language. The interior designer wanted to create the feel of a jungle as the sight was located in HIghly dense urban surroundings. In the limited colour options and restricted size of the mosaic tile we tried to use it to our advantage and created the visual language from old school computer games to create a kind of a pixelated jungle.

RutuchakraVIII.Embroidery Depicting Seasons in India

The idea of India is an emotion, a beautiful cacophony of culture. Everything here is a notch brighter, the cuisine, the flowers a riot of colours and an ever expanding culturally diverse population. So following this pattern of abundance, there are six distinct seasons instead of four. Vasant Ritu, the heralding of spring that brings forth flowers. Quickly giving way to Grishma Ritu, a scorching summer that gives us the majestic mango, king of fruits, a worthy compensation for all that we endure in the heat. Followed by the drenching monsoons during the Varsha Ritu that paves way for a mellow autumn, the Sharad Ritu. Winters, the best time of the year for companionship and relishment of outdoors, starts off with Hemant Ritu and ends with Shishir.

While every part of the country has its own unique experiences, the overall feel of it was captured on the mural. Using very intricate stitches from the Chikankari repertoire, the mural was embroidered by a team of 15 women, all traditional craftspeople who have learnt these skills from their female relatives, a process unbroken through generations. A unique approach, this was made possible through an arduous collaborative process from all stakeholders.

Digital of ‘Vasant Rutu’ (Spring) showing the bloom of flora, transitioning into ‘Grishma Rutu’ (Summer) showing various iterations of the ‘Keri’ (Mango motif) with the slow ascent of clouds. The digital illustration was then manifested into the real embroidered mural as shown in the previous page.

Digital illustration of ‘Varsha Rutu’ (Monsoon) showing ascent of clouds and rain, transitioning into ‘Sharad Rutu’ (Autumn) showing falling leaves and metamorphosis of leaves into birds and fishes. The digital illustration was then manifested into the real embroidered mural as shown in the previous page.

The lake IX.

Sanjhi paper cutting craft

Organic India, a company that sells organic products for healthy living, wanted a mural for their lobby in their headquarters based in Lucknow. Located in Uttar Pradesh, the client was keen on using a local craft. Sanjhi, a paper cutting craft from nearby town Mathura, seemed contextually appropriate as a backdrop of the reception area. Made in several parts, the artwork is designed to give a feeling of a forest with lots of trees and a water-body. The artisans cut this out deftly, creating interesting patterns for each element.