N I T A N A T H W A N I
Close up to Sea Sponges
Eucalyptus
Sea Urchin Beads
Always picturing myself either in or near water, I am inspired by creatures from the ocean, both real and imagined. Drawing on Kenyan Indian Gujerati roots, vibrant fabrics, embroidery, beadwork and tropical flower garlands form an essential visual background. Absorbing the structure and essence of a piece of music, craft and textile seen or experienced around the world, I reconstruct to make new patterns using perhaps the original texture, the design, the occasional flash of colour.
Reflecting the domestic female work ethic and the humdrum of family life, mine is
often the product of repetition and perseverance -
Primarily working with ceramics, it is also challenging to work with materials such as wire and fabric. Alongside learning new techniques in ceramics, I am increasingly keen to combine, in unconventional ways, traditional skills such as embroidery and sewing, acquired casually in the company of mothers and grandmothers in verandahs and communal courtyards where generations mixed freely. Attention to each small piece somehow fills a void living in an environment of targeted, structured and certificated classes and the frustration of pressure from next version gadgets. Often unconstrained by the need for a final product, it is liberating to imagine many lives for anything I make. It is exactly the same freedom expressed in North Indian classical raga music, where, depending on use and placement, each note lends a different characteristic to a ‘raga’ – a tonal framework for composition and improvisation.
Captivated by the practice of Chilla -