Shivangi Gupta
Coming from India which is known for its rich traditional textiles, I have never thought about them deeply since they were always visible there and here. Similarly, I found people having similar thoughts about autumn when I came to England as they have it every year. Whereas autumn was something completely new and exciting to me, beautiful and mesmerizing. And so are Indian textiles to English people. The concept of taking small things which we were born with for granted endowed me with a deeper exploration of the field of traditional textiles of my own culture.
During my visit to Bagh and Maheshware, two villages known for block printing and hand woven fabric in India, I saw the very small details in the process which made the final production of fabric a work of emotions, personal touch and the un-seeable intricacy throughout the making. What appeals to me the most is the great amount of careful hand work and time input onto one large piece of fabric. These have become the crucial elements to my textile practice, I utilized autumn as a metaphorical resemblance to the Indian textile industry which is going through a phase of disvalue and decline, like the withering leaves of trees and flowers.
My work comprises of 14 embroider hoops made with a range of techniques involving screen printing, lino printing, hand embroidery and traces of digital printing.
