A quick-roundup of what transpired at this month’s edition of Show & Tell Saturday, the 13th in this series at the studio.
Dhvani Behl / Flora by Fauna
The session kicked off with artist and print-maker Dhvani Behl talking about her journey from a child who never thought she could draw (well) to a print-maker who just debuted with her solo show in September this year. I first saw actual samples of her work at her debut exhibition titles Enso: The Language of a Printmaker at the Alliance Francaise in Delhi.
I was immediately struck by the quality of her drawing of flora which for me represented her true understanding of the character of her subjects. Her current body of work, including etchings, textile art, printed apparel and art prints can be found under her label Flora for Fauna.
Samrat Som / Royal Enfield
The second guest speaker for the evening was Samrat Som, currently heading Apparel & Accessories for Royal Enfield. Our association with Samrat began and continues through the work on brand identity & expressions with the Royal Enfield brand. While both our work streams manifest eventually in different media, our understanding of the brand is shared. I thought it would be interesting to hear Samrat’s point-of-view on designing with/for brands, but from the perspective of product (apparel & accessories) development. Needless to say, there were great parallels in his approach to that of brand identity & communication designers—of finding unique voices, of discovering stories, and crafting distinctive ‘branded’ expressions. His talk also challenged the notion around formulaic design for mass brands, as he spoke of craftsmanship, failure and persistence with passion and candour.
Khyati Trehan / Codesign
Khyati shared the work of Vivian Maier (1926 – A2009) a reclusive nanny whose incredible body of work as a street photographer surfaced and found acclaim posthumously, with almost a chance discovery of her work at auctions by photo collectors.
“I found Maier’s character, life and her discovery as fascinating as her photography. She kept all her work hidden and shot more than 100,000 negatives of street photography only to gratify herself. I found that both baffling and beautiful, which is why I wanted to share it with everybody.”
Shreeya Kurien / Codesign
Shreeya presented the work of Kim Keever, a contemporary American artist, whose work she discovered through its feature in Joanna Newsom’s video for Divers, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
“His underwater landscapes, both as still photographs and video, fascinate me. They are surreal yet familiar, retaining a old-world painterly quality yet full of motion. More interesting is the process he uses to make these images – by constructing models of a landscape in a tank filled with water, and then allowing multiple pigments to diffuse in the tank. This diffusion is photographed or recorded to create the final visuals.”
Artist’s Website | Interview | Video
Pragun Agarwal / Codesign
Pragun presented the work of Michael Roulier and Philippe Lhomme, who are professional food film directors and founders of Food Film studio, based in Paris.
Unlike many other works in food photography and film, their work uses the freshest of ingredients and simple cinematic techniques to create a sensorially-stimulating visuals. They highlight the uniqueness of texture and detail that each ingredient and cuisine holds. With minimal digital manipulation and smart editing, the end results are both stunning and more authentic (and delicious). With the same principles, they have also now expanded their work into projects for cosmetics brands.
And lastly a big shout-out to the eclectic and warm guests of the studio at the Show & Tell. A diverse mix from fashion, design and arts, made for conversations that ensued well post the talks and into the night. Until next time.
