Experimenting within frameworks: a home away from home
A year ago, in my pursuit to find for the Kanjivaram newer meanings, expressions and experiences, I created for myself a muddy brown Kanjivaram sari. With near-negligible gold zari on it, this sari that I wore one evening with my favourite piece of emerald earrings, brought me a ton of compliments, and with it, an idea was born.
Those of you familiar with the world of the Kanjivaram will know that soft browns, and pastels for that matter, aren’t a part of the Kanjivaram family, a family that stands for strength of character, a value system that celebrates rootedness, rigour, relevance and a quality of deliberate practice that gets better and better with time and experience. But those of you familiar with my ethos and pursuit of the Kanjivaram recognise that my quest has been constant to celebrate the rigour of the drape and enable it to become a garment of choice for the multi-faceted contemporary woman of today, who pursues many interests and places herself in contexts that are diverse and eclectic.
It is against that backdrop that I began experimenting with the idea of the pastels within the framework of the Kanjivaram, allowing those who have already made it their own, to find in it an articulation that enables for them an experience that is rooted but distinct.
That idea sparkled into a series of creations in colours like turquoise, dove grey, oyster and lime green, to name a few… More importantly, this affair with the pastels has been an act of further reinforcing my faith in the Kanjivaram, a medium that I believe stands tall and lends itself to growth without ever comprising on grace and beauty – like a home with a very large and open-minded heart… like a woman who flirts a little but knows where her heart is!
- Ahalya S
