Siddhi Bhandari. exhibition on 18th Dec - Ahmedabad

Mystique 

A painting Exhibition by Siddhi Bhandari

A self taught artist 

Canvases are the diaries of her thoughts and feelings. Freedom, flight and flow can be felt in different aspects of her paintings. Her unplanned yet thoughtful paintings are bright and balanced. Portraits, Buddha, Lotus, butterflies, nature and woman faces are the central motifs in her different series of paintings, each motif are having independent ideas and reasons yet they are inter connected. While painting, her murmuring (passing by) thoughts take over the job and she let her hands paint her heart freely; sometimes her hands keep catching the beats of music into her colour strokes. As she says music allows her hands to flow freely. The tactile quality of materials is carefully preserved and its feelings are well expressed in her work with the paints and strokes made by her fingers /hand and not by brushes. She started her first series of paintings with portraits. In the next series eventually the calm – subtle and serene image of Lord Buddha became the central motif in her paintings. She can relate with Buddha: “The Siddhartha” because her husband’s name is “Siddharth” and he is her motivator. Many words of Buddha’s preaching keep appearing in her work at different places as lessons of life. These words also represent her role as a Mother as she teaches/imbibes these values to her son. Gratefulness, honesty etc. qualities which can make a human being contented. There are many things hidden in her paintings which are left to viewers to be read according to their own experience and vision. Her attachment with nature prevails everywhere in her works, flowers; as specially lotus as it also relates with Buddha , leafs , creepers etc. is observed and kept in her paintings as they are observed even passively while walking on streets or in gardens, fine details of nature is incorporated in some abstract manners into her canvas. Bright colours are also inspired from nature which maintains good balance of warm and cool colours; it is metaphorically showing two different aspects/sides of everything at once. In the beautiful paintings with slashing and spilling bright colours female portraits often highlights in smaller part of her work. It is not easy to fulfil her desires, but there is a desire. Butterflies have powerful symbol for her. It speaks of miracle and surrendering to divine in our soul's growth of expansion, celebration and transition, beauty and faith.

- Text provided by the Artist. 

Wish you success Always Siddhi. Keep the light Shining. 

 I had the pleasure of meeting her and of seeing her work, or glimpses of it as she progressed, she reminds me of myself and I realise all over again that it takes courage to show your dreams to the  world, to share your work with people, to be vulnerable because you open up your heart so much..
but Art is a wonderful thing. you make connections and have the power to speak to others. There is so much of an artist s soul that gets left behind in every work. With this exhibition Siddhi does just that. you can see how many hours she has spent brush in hand, working away, all in all
A show not be be missed and work that would bring life to any Space.

Ritu Jadwani at Tvak

Fashion Designer 

Ritu Jadwani 

At

Tvak 

An Interview & Photos of Her studio 

Deviba : Explain who you are & what you do : introduction ( What’s your background? )
Ritu : I am an apparel designer who is trying to create unique products through the local craft techniques to sustain the crafts.

My background is in fashion design and business innovation. After some work experience with non profits, international designers, trend companies, craft magazines, local brands, I decided to start Namaste NYC. 
Namaste NYC was initiated with an aim, to connect the Indian crafts to a global market, through design innovation, employment generation and to support artisans. Initially we started making tassels, scarves, trinket accessories, for the global market. Slowly we expanded our range to apparel,leather bags and footwear.

Deviba : What jobs have you done other than being a Designer ? Why do you do what you do ?

Ritu : During my initial job struggling days abroad, I used to be a hostess, at a restaurant. My job was to greet people,make them comfortable and get them a good table in the restaurant. Before that worked with a cosmetic company, air gas company,intelligent buildings technology company, craft magazine,  trend forecast company.
As a student of design, I was exposed to a lot of art,Indian crafts, and hand embroidery techniques. New fabrics and designs inspire me, to create something which is unique, innovative. I try to design products which are affordable to people, rather than becoming a luxury brand. I have seen a wave of brand consciousness entering the Indian and global market. Everyone wants to own a Michael Kors or Guess bag, or an LV wallet. But the moment you are told to spend 1/10th the amount on something which is unique and handmade, people are not ready. There is probably 10% population which understands the beauty of crafts. Namaste NYC is an effort to increase that small percentage.

D : What’s your story ?   Describe a real-life situation that inspired you to become who u are today.

R: My mom used to design our clothes for every wedding in the family. Initially she would browse through international magazines, learn about trends, then we would go fabric shopping and try to mix and match the prints and laces. Later, we would go to our family tailor and get fancy gowns, lehengas, skirts, stitched for weddings.
During my studies at NIFT, I was exposed to and interacted with a lot of artisans, my mentors were people who appreciated crafts, handmade products and value for money. People who were comfortable buying a handicraft jute Calcutta bag, and not brand savy or brand conscious. My trend internships, part time jobs , travel exposures, further enforced the idea of merging the international trends into local crafts, and thus Namaste NYC was born.

D : What’s integral to the work of a designer ? 
R : Innovation is key to any designers work. We do look and study at trends, to understand the current state of mind of people and the market. But, its important to create something unique, usable, beautiful and affordable. It should serve the purpose and solve the problem. if a top can be worn as a top during day, over-layered as a jacket in evening and dressed up to take you through the nite, a problem is solved. A traveller, then doesn't need to carry 3 pcs, instead - 1 pc which is versatile will suffice. For me, creating a solution is integral.
I believe, its important to create employment opportunities for women, for artisans, and sustain the crafts, rather than running behind brands, or factory made products.

D : where do u see yourself in 2 years ? 5 years ? 

R : I would like to see my products on lots of e-commerce national & international portals, and stores around the world in the coming 2 years.
5 years down the line, have a small pop-up store for people to come and experience the brand.
The world is changing so fast, thanks to the digital economy, I think the 5 year plan may evolve after the 2 year plan is achieved!  

How has been your experience working in an atmosphere like Tvak ? do you enjoy meeting other creative people ? 

Tvak has a very organic work atmosphere, which is what I like about it. Its not like a corporate kiosk setting, neither a closed door policy. Its nice to interact with other people, who help in idea generation, critic and feedback and you can concentrate on your own work too. The studio hrs and days are very flexible and convenient. Being an artist herself, Deviba understands the creative vibe and discussions/idea generations flow over cups of chai.

So far I have met a few travelers, painters, and e-commerce business owners . Its interesting, as everyone has a unique perspective towards the same situation or idea. Meeting other creative people gives you an insight to unique minds, aims, aspirations and style of working. 

Being in a creative space, reinforces the energy and stimulates you to work towards better design, as compared to a corporate office. The painted staircase walls, the pastel colors in the bathroom, the artistic wooden furniture, the semi open patio/balcony, each element makes it unique. The location is main road, but its beautifully tucked away from the main stream buildings. You may miss it, if you don't look out for the board.

An Auction and An Art camp

Parakram 2014 

By Anurita Rathore 

Ahmedabad s first Art Auction 

Parakram exhibition at Lal Bungalow C.G Road and 

Auction at the BMW showroom S.G Highway. 

The Owl Painting :  Deviba Wala

acrylic on canvas by Deviba Wala. 

the money generated by the auction was used to provide art education to the Underprivileged children and teach them to earn a living. 

Deviba with Asha Mandapa, Shiv Mandapa , Sonal Ambani and Ms.  Amita 

at the auction - Parsoli motors 

________________________________________________________________________________

Magma Fincorp : 

An Art camp at Pride Hotel 

Deviba Wala of Tvak Studios at the Art Camp 

this was the second edition that I was glad to be a part of 

Horse Poetry : 

Deviba Wala 

I am Movement

and travel

and five houses and a restless soul

I would stay put if I had a home

if I had a horse 

to me a Horse is Home 

Tvak Studio s 2015-2016 art scholarships.

Tvak Studio :  2015 - 2016  art scholarships.  

Each summer the Studios offer scholarships. this year we had the pleasure of hosting 4 very talented Artists. 

Dharmistha Suthar : Born in 1977 in Mumbai, Dharmistha has passed her early years in Kadi, Singapore, Vidyanagar, Anand and Mumbai before settling in Ahmedabad. Keeping art as the dream field, she has done Diploma in Architecture and post diploma in Interior designing, She has worked with many mediums however she flourishes while working with water colours and tampara.In it's the magic of layers,connection, scale and details that makes up her art mesmerising.

Antisha Balar : Born in 1994 in Ahmedabad , she has done bacholers in business administration. keeping art as her primary focus,
She has worked with many mediums like woodcut, watercolours, acrylic, oil and tempera. And among all the art works, her attentiveness is Morley on vintage look paintings. She has been encouraged by the wealth of traditional house of her grandparents in her village she always wanted to make something conventional because these days the crowd is more into modern stuff but she believes traditional is ever green she always loves the beauty of the brew of bright colored old things which were casted with iron columns. Traditional art is cultural artwork. It has been defined within the parameters, drawings, sculptures and architecture. We refer to it as realistic and figurative.

Jyoti Harwani :Born in 1990 in Ahmedabad, Jyoti was clear since her school what she loved the most – “Painting”. After school it was her decision to enroll herself for Fine arts course, but destiny and her parents had other plans for her. She holds the degree of B.com and M.B.A. Soon she became a Marketing professional, but couldn’t survive the corporate world, thus left the job in 2014.

Jyoti now does what she loved the most She sits for hours and hours observing, thinking and painting. She loves the water color medium and still in the process of establishing her style. It’s the magic of millions of colors she observes around her that pushes Jyoti to capture the every possible color she sees. She describes her artworks as, “A piece of paper presenting a story of millions of colors coming together to form a story!

Purvi Sharma : Born in 1992, has a craft store in the name of, "Regalo"... She has a academic background in B.B.A and then she started painting. Then exploring different medium n establishing her style. Purvi is currently working in water color medium, she loves the black and white contrast. 

 for more information contact : 

Info.tvak@gmail.com


Thank you
Jeet Pandya for co-ordinating and Yash Vyas for recommending them 

artist poetry 

poetry or prose 

everyday writing 

Me n my hair, Wild untamed hair, my very essence: my identity. 

Hey sorry I m having a messed up bad hair day - a million of them and my head is messed up too. 

After the fight to smoothen it out -there is now total acceptance - My hair is as wild as me. 

"Horse hair " well that's me 

"Hair like the horse's tail " that's me again 

What goes on in that head of mine 

Restless thoughts simmering sizzling 

I think they burned my hair from the inside out. 

My hair spins in a loop and spirals as it tries to make sense of it all.

 Flows like the river and flies like the wind. 

Wild stories, fantastic tales, too much of life in my 36 years and ugly sad reality. 

But also beauty and kindness and art and animals. People with hearts of gold and things that I just can't figure out. 

You never will, you never will say the voices in my head .. And all three of me nod in understanding. 

For what's to be understood? 

Isn't life just an experience?

A Reunion with the 1st artist at the Vastrapur Tvak studio. - Kumar Ranjan

Kumar Ranjan 

(Tvak residency program 2014 )

This was back in 2014. 

I had the opportunity to catch up with him over a weekend in Manali. 

Solang Village.

I share with you his journey and work since. 

Kumar Ranjan says : " I had come to tvak when I was depressed and wondering what work to do 

I took work from 2002 because I liked the aesthetic of that work 

I had worked on mob ; a group of people dynamic 

I was not ready to do new work ;so the flashback worked for me 

The caption unadulterated art was also given because there was nothing in my mind . The pure aesthetic was used to recreate similar works . Ahmedabad also I say a big rush and crowds. 

Then  : traumatic depression of my own life I used to depict frustration agression and a realization of my own mistakes. I made a series of works based on physiological. Then I went to my village and was inspired by the new hope and a desire to begin fresh. The small things I saw and the resilience of the village people. They had little possesions, a lot of problems and yet they were hopeful. “Jajalpur ki murghi” eating a murghi was a fest. The family got together and enjoy the feast. The death of the bird is a delicate culinary fest for them . They come together and share food. 

Also the movements of the poultry bird. When the birds are not running around, the village is empty. From the morning crawing of the bird to the chase to bring it back when it wanders around. 

Hatching of the egg was seen by the artist as hatching a new future a new beginning, new possibilities. 

He just observed the bird. The chickens and roosters ate and made sure they fed their chicks. The life system was good to watch.  This story was made and depicted and then the series village of gold. This work was all executed on jute. 

The resources being limited they migrate in search of a better life and opportunity and they aim at survival in a big city where he is nobody and he is mistreated and does not fit in, but he makes money and is fending for his family hence the little money means a lot to him. That happiness and feeling, ambitions and dreams all compressed into his thoughts . He lives his life holding on to the morning dawn of this village and imagining a golden village. He distances himself physically from his roots so his family will have food. But there is a downside , this is westernization and commercialization. Why do we all run after this idea of a so called perfect life that does not exist. 

Then another series of works like “capacity of tolerance” and unhealthy relation of two roll no’s “ why I am hungry? “  hero zero” sorry truth .. My father ..... My mother and “family shoot” which were more installation like  and drawing attention to middle class views and struggles. Found objects and carpentry was used to make these installations. These works were conceptual and are from things that I see around me. There is a sudden click in my brain and I know something I have just seen will become a work . 

Now : working on a series of works which will incorporate embroidery. And the work will be display in some prominent exhibitions at galleries in Delhi. 

Craft and Art .. Shahid Ansari. An interview

Shahid Ansari : an interview by Jeet Pandya. 

 A visit to Tvak studios by artist shahid Ansari led to an interesting conversation over a cool glass of lemonade. 

Who are you and what do you do Jeet asked him, as soon as he was introduced to Shahid and I share with you the details based on the conversation. 

Shahid hails from Radhanpur. He got inspired from the Traditional and aari work of  radhanpur primarily.He moved to Ahmedabad and for 5 years he  learned embroidery and different techniques with different mediums. 

At his workshop, He expanded his team and now has about 10-15 karigars. 

After spending 15 years doing job work like aari, zardosi and producing various bridal collection pieces In the year 2005- Due to the introduction of computerized embroidery the textile and related work industries were affected specially the traditional method of embroidery work largely, workers and karigar were left without work and people left to do daily wage work. At one point he had to shut down his workshop. For 2 years he was unemployed. About 800 karigars quit  but he never really quit he tried to see what to do with what skill he had 

The man has a vision he used his skill to do art pieces and Took the work to a new level.

His inspiration were the buildings of heritage. He studied these monuments. Learned about it.

Studied the lines and patterns of buildings and how they could be depicted in this new medium of Ari and jardozi. 

2 years passed and he got deeply engrossed in his work. studied ahmedabad and buildings and put them into textile format . 

Sitting at Delhi darwaja at 7 in morning for 2 hours before the traffic hit used to be his way of study and the building was one of the first he did. 

For 3 years he worked on his collection of different monuments of ahmedabad and the world. 

He works with Cotton fabric, velvet fabric, silk fabric. Fabric is stretched on wooden frames. Raw materials also include  metal beads, jardosi, nakshi, silk thread. 

Future vision : 

He hopes to open up a centre for education of the different techniques and traditional embroidery work to preserve it. He wants children to come and study and learn the process and take their products to a national and international level and also to provide employement to karigars working for the medium.

He says throughout the years People have praised and mocked him for his work. But Both of the views have helped him go ahead and he has never looked back.

He wants to create monuments of diff countries and have shows so as to share our traditional culture and the method and to have it spread across different nations so that people know about it and learn.

We wish him luck always ! 

How Murals are made : Deviba Wala 's Studio

Butterfly wing : Painted Mural

From concept to executing the work 

:) paint what you see and you can't go wrong !!!

I have always worked with my gut when I paint and I don't rush things. An idea will come when it will come, I feel blessed to have the ability to translate these fragile figment of imagination into tangible real works. it's a little crazy sometimes when you 're always seeing things differently and finding shapes. but I am not complaining :) 

My style of working is to have the canvas or material in front of me where I can see it and then just have it near me to keep staring at until an idea takes shape or in some poetic way until it speaks to me. 

I have tried forcing the process by sitting with a size written on a paper and beginning to do a series of sketches to then try and fill that space.. It never works for me.  

I need to cut out a canvas that size and have it in front of me. Then I can paint.

This has taught me that it's ok to do things the way you want to ..

Ok if your processes don't match those of others - this makes the work more mine. 

I know every work I leave behind is a part of me 

A little thought .. One of those days :- Jeet Pandya

Jeet Pandya 

Pen and Ink Work 

A young man and his thoughts. 

I am not happy,

I am not sad.

I am only there, 

here or anywhere.

I am not living like one should be,

I have failed to learned to live.

Such tragedy is my own to keep.

But I am not sorry for my existence,

And thankful to those who care.

I will not kill my spirit or let others kill it.

It troubles me very much to just be

More than it troubles you, me being around.

- Jeet Pandya

Now I am trying to paint to these words

And would like to know if you all ever do this

Send me what you write and what you paint on

Jeet.tvak@gmail.com

Through the looking glass. Art O Nama 2 : Ahmedabad Mirror Art show.

Through the looking glass..

Artists bring to life their visions of the city through 

an exhibition of paintings and sculptures .. 

An exhibition by : 

Ahmedabad Mirror 

Invitation : 

Media Coverage : 

Devib's work as part of the exhibition and a concept note: 

Deviba s Work : paint on mirror

Day 2 :

Day 3 : 

call for artists INDIA 2016 october to jan session

Tvak Residential art Studio 

Winter session : october 2016 - january 2017

Call For Visual Artists 

for more information please send us an e mail on info.tvak@gmail.com 

for the winter session we have a vacancy of 4 Artists. 

Groups may apply.