Six trees, six cities. Representing each city, the trees tell the story of a widely traveled couple who lived in the cities. Created by textile designer Medha Bhatt, the mural-like work of art was a gift to a couple to celebrate their golden anniversary. Created with thousands of textile discards, this is one of the signature pieces created by Vadodara based Medha.
Describing it as one of the most challenging tasks she has ever done, she says: “My clients wanted the work to have an impressive look, a kind of Van Gogh effect on the fabric. I covered the white base fabric entirely with fabric discarded. Gave.
Since 2004, Medha has been creating picturesque works of art from fabric discarded to be bought in sacks from sewing shops in Vadodara.
Medha specializes in nature and ecosystem scenes. Birds perch on trees, dragonflies skit over ponds, squirrels feed on berries, flowers peek through umbrellas; His every work comes alive with plants and animals. “Once my clients tell me what they have in mind, I get a better image of what they want,” she explains.
Usually, Medha designs a questionnaire to better understand its clients and their interests. When she found that the couple lived in six cities, she decided to focus on the trees that symbolize the cities, each of which has a special place in the couple’s life.
She is now working on a commission assignment for a couple caring for physically challenged pets. Medha is also working on a piece telling the story of Bhavnagar in Saurashtra, where she lives. Commissioned for the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, she says it is “an expression of my native land. I am writing a letter about Bhavnagar to an artist friend who is curating the exhibition. She wants an expression on screen, The beauty, the landscape, the flora, the fauna… reflect the essence of my native land. It is called ‘textile-as-letter’.”
Medha has been following the storytelling traditions of Kutch. Although the storytelling was ritualistic and traditional in nature, they included stories from nature, flowers, trees and birds as motifs. “All the work was made from the waste of the sewing shops. In Gujarat, scraps of cloth waste scattered in public places are rarely found.”
how did it start
Medha recalls that she first encountered cloth waste bags in 2004-2005 while working with the Zero Waste Center in Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, which was run by environmental NGO Thanal. He had just started his Save Rice campaign.
“From an artist’s point of view, I saw a story evolve. As a designer, organic farming, environment and all that was new to me. I was interested in storytelling and I encouraged the women of the center to portray these stories through scraps.”
More than women, Medha was inspired to work with nature. In 2011, it started its own brand, Forest Floor, which was later renamed as First Forest. She relies on descriptive stories from her clients to make each piece unique and resonate with them.
A commission to work on a lily pond asked him to study the ecosystem around such a pond. “Lilies don’t exist in isolation. I see it as part of an ecosystem with reeds, birds, grasses, birds, and dragonflies. I weave a story around that.”
It takes time to think but the real work begins when she starts going through the scraps to set the color in a work. A sketch becomes a reference point.
change process
The fabric discarded on the base cloth recreates the sketch. The pieces are attached to the base with long running stitches. Then his team is given to hemming for each scrap. Once this is over, Medha embroiders to emphasize certain aspects of the work. “Perhaps, the wings, leaves, petals, of the dragon fly add a few shades of color … I only use running stitch and sometimes chain stitch.”
Medha compares the running stitch, perhaps the most basic stitch, to a pencil, as she finds it the most versatile of stitches. “It can become the sun, a star, rain… Almost anything, depending on how you put it. My hand and needles get me where I want. I work with running stitches.” It’s a relief to do it.”
She’ll probably change the sketch here and there as work progresses. “The permutations and color scheme reveal themselves, scrap by scrap, on the work table. The play of light on a screen elevates and transforms the mood. My clients run stitches as a line in the day or the sun.” Can be seen as a shadow of color as it sets. Daylight reveals one new mood while twilight reveals another.”
The cost of works starts from ₹ 20,000 and depends on the amount of work that goes into one piece. Medha wants each and every action to be suggestive to her client. when a friend requested Neem tree As a tree work for her old mother, Medha wanted to know why she chose? Neem tree,
“If they see the tree as just a motif, there is no point in spending so much time building it. I decorated the tree with a bench under it, squirrels, berries, birds and flowers.
Nature gives each leaf a different color depending on how old it is. So, there are soft green ones, dark green leaves, yellow ones and brown ones that fall off when the wind blows. For the slender neem flowers, Medha cut them from an old skirt that had similar flowers.
Medha believes that when an artist narrates a story, the client narrates the story first, but as the artist takes the time to do it, he or she becomes a part of the story. “The artist is also traveling with him. It takes heart and effort to finish it.”
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