Horse Heads -Installation

The highlight of this commission is the quality of free hand brush strokes achieved through tonal shades of colour, informed by those of the amethyst. It has been mentioned in earlier writings on the Visvakarma exhibitions as a great example in the use of discharge dyes. In its concept, it evokes the notion of jewel tones in Indian fabrics. While horses are depicted across several media in the arts of the subcontinent, they seldom appear on fabric. In these ways, like other bold textiles created at the WSC in Mumbai, it represents a pivotal moment in the contemporarisation of Indian textile arts.

Visvakarma Commission’s other fine achievement by the Weavers Service Centre, Mumbai is the Horse-head panel. In the book Hand Crafted Indian Textiles, Martand Singh mentioned that the result of this pure silk panel is achieved through contemporary discharge dyeing. The discharge process always results in a white or natural tone, but he mentioned that the colours of amethyst served as a reference. While describing the process, he mentioned that “the endless steaming operations between each application of dye rendered the process exceedingly complex and time-consuming”.

The scale horse head depicted in this panel is progressively enlarged from top to bottom giving visual balance to the panel. More than the artistic work colour plays a remarkable role in this panel.