Listening to 'On the Run (Part ll) with Jay-Z and Beyonce as I write this...
'toast to cliches in the dark past...'
.... and 'Jiya laga na...tum bin mora' from the film 'Talaash' ....
it's not Coltrane ...but ...
Ok.
Simply, I'm making a sari.
Out of a veneer of plywood.
Inspired by my beautiful sari
designed by Paromita Naidu
and her company Lotus Eye.
My Lotus Eye sari is shown below...
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| My Lotus Eye Sari |
The ceiling height in my office is
about 11 feet plus, so I was able
to fold the sari over a rod and
hang the rod with piano wire from
wood lattice which is just below
the ceiling itself.
I first met Mita about 5 years ago, just after returning from my first trip to
India. During that trip I was privileged to spend time in Dharavi and since
one of my interests in architecture is multiple housing and community,
that walk through what is called a slum ( they call it a slum; we call it 'home'...)
sparked a lot of thought. It's even sparked a few designs...
So...
Beautiful Saris is only part of it......
but
Bigger story: I'd like to incorporate
the simplicity, elegance, colour, style and
grace of Indian saris into architecture...
So the sari I'm making is a work in progress. Started with ideas for panels,
for incorporating jewelry I brought back from Hyderabad into doors or other
panels (see earlier post) , numerous sketches of doors, and now a sari.
Or maybe it's more about a veneer fabric inspired by a sari...
A couple of early sketches of doors are shown below....
You need to realize that the goal for these doors/panels is that they
will be very contemporary, in very contemporary houses and other
buildings. So it will be a process of refining the designs....
My Lotus Eye sari is unique; different too I think for LE from what she
usually designed at that time. It's almost like a batik and I love that it
was handmade, and that there are both repetitive elements and all
kinds of free form, uninhibited parts.
Searching for freedom.
The fabric of the sari I am making is composed of a 2 ply aircraft
plywood, very thin and light. It comes in 4x4 or 4x8 sheets. The
finished surface is one ply douglas fir or cherry, which comes rolled
up and is seriously fragile.
It's called a 'flitch' and I glue it to the substrate and hand paint it...
Below is a photo from the first day, showing a 4' x 4' piece of the 2 ply
substrate and a small piece of fir flitch....oh, and some gesso painted
on the substrate as a base for different colourful paint for the future
reveals...
More tomorrow....
