New exhibtion in Mumbai celebrates Indian craft traditions by turning them into unique pieces of art

A comb a brush or even a street lamp are objects we rarely stop to admire anymore Yet for Hyderabadbased architect and designer Sona Reddy these ordinary things hold extraordinary possibilitiesHer latest exhibition Rooted now on at 47A Gallery till August 16 is a collection of furniture objects and artworks drawn from antique botanical illustrations Indian craft traditions and materials such as stone ceramic glass and silkWith each piece you will notice that rather than recreating nature Reddy preserves its memory translating fleeting blooms into enduring objectsldquoMost of the materials used are rooted to where they are from in terms of whether itrsquos say the glass or the stone or the ceramicrdquo she says explaining the exhibitionrsquos title ldquoTheyrsquore earth materials Wersquore working with a lot of flowers thatrsquos the major theme even in terms of the aesthetics of all the pieces So Rooted actually stems from there but itrsquos also definitely the material playrdquoThe collection began with a chance discovery of two illustrated botany textbooks dating back to 1839 The artworks in these textbooks mdash which will be on display at 47A mdash helped shape the visual language of the collectionldquoIn those days they used to print the text but they actually handpainted whenever they had any pictorial stuff So each of the textbooks was handpainted I found these in an antique store a couple of years ago and Irsquove always been wanting to do something with them A lot of the colour inspiration started from thererdquo says ReddySona ReddyThose historical illustrations find new life across the exhibition The Rosa Collection captures the layered form of blooming roses in Jaisalmer stone handcrafted ceramics and delicate glass inlaysOne of the pieces has handpainted floral compositions that are painstakingly translated into silkthread embroidery on organza In another botanical illustrations are housed inside handcrafted Channapatna wood frames turning them into contemporary collectible artworksReddy says she finds inspiration in the overlooked corners of everyday life ldquoI am very drawn to old thingsrdquo she says ldquothey have beauty in everything A lamppost on a road was always ornamental and pretty It was never just basic Even a comb or a hairbrush always had some amount of beauty They were art pieces in themselves Today we celebrate them as collectibles but I think they always had that qualityrdquoThat philosophy extends beyond statement furniture into playful objects One piece in the exhibition is a sculptural tictactoe board elevating one of the simplest games into something worthy of lingering overAll of this Reddy says is the result of many specialised hands working together One such collaboration involved a familyrun glass workshop that has spent decades restoring stainedglass windowsThat dialogue between designer and artisan often reshapes the work itself ldquoBecause Irsquom collaborating sometimes I donrsquot know the limitations of a certain craft as much as they do We always make a sample try it out and then only go forwardrdquoAs Indian design increasingly goes back to its roots and embraces colour texture and materiality again Reddy believes audiences are responding instinctivelyldquoI slowly see colour coming back I see stone coming back I see wood coming backrdquo she says ldquoWersquore again going back to the roots and enjoying what we originally hadrdquo Perhaps nowhere is that clearer than in her own approach to colour One table combines black granite with pastel pink green and turquoise Another piece pairs bright yellow Jaisalmer stone with vivid red and green ceramic roses combinations that sound improbable until they come togetherReddy is curious rather than certain about how Mumbai will respond ldquoWhen I tell you that a piece has green yellow and red it almost sounds tacky But in Hyderabad people loved it So Irsquom curious to see how Mumbai reactsrdquo