We Are Back

  Stitch on Cloth

I’m grown-up seeing women sewing around my village for livelihood. These traditional sewing methods have always fascinated me. This simple needle and thread weave stories of the women and provide them with daily bread. A plain process which empowers the women to bare the family on her shoulder with no pomp and glory. I try to amalgamate the traditional method with the contemporary art practice. My subject and inspiration are Nature. The landscapes of my surroundings come up in my works again and again, plants, animals, insects, weeds, wildflowers, herbs, grasses, water bodies, fields, ghats, the changing seasons, the people and their actions and gestures. Sometimes metaphorical folktales get into my work. The place where I live is rural but has become urbanized somewhere building made of cement & concrete has been constructed by demolishing the traditional earthen house of the village, rows of palm trees and old trees have been cut down gradually. Due to these reasons the beauty of the village has been disrupted. But lockdown has made nature to come back to its old form. In the dense blue sky, the stars have risen in the game of clouds. The brightness of the sun has increased. The seasons have changed. The pollution in the air has decreased. The flower that is supposed to bloom in winter has already revealed its beauty. A flock of birds have come out in search of food and nectar. My painting is like a bird’s conversation with flowers. As if they are each other’s friends or lovers. The medium of these artworks is sewing, traditional local Kantha art of Birbbhum. I try to narrate stories through this traditional thread work of Kantha in my contemporary art practice.