Indian textile art comes of age

Contemporary Indian artists are combining textile with other mediums and disciplines to explore personal histories, question gender roles and respond to a changing world

- Avantika Bhuyan

At the Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, a set of absurdist, exaggerated fibreglass sculptures come into view. Watching Reels Makes this Easier shows a figure attempting push-ups while being immersed on his phone; another one, I'm Like this only for Instagram, features a person wearing a Chanel T-shirt, seated on a Louis Vuitton couch, petting his dog. Viraj Khanna's latest show, Brain Rot, is a satirical commentary on the hyper-digital lives that we lead, and the impact of the screen on the way we project our personalities to shape perceptions. On view till 9 February, it is not just the theme of the works that is interesting but its materiality as well. Khanna has been pushing the boundaries of embroidery and textile art with every show. And in this one, he has embroidered artificial leaves and flowers on astroturf before placing the sculptures on them. Brain Rot—a reference to Oxford Dictionary's word of 2024—features hand-embroidered textiles as well, which also contemplate the psychological impact of technology on our daily lives.

If Khanna innovates with embroidery, Varanasi-based artist Debashish Paul looks at the fluidity of textile forms to explore and express his queer identity. For performances such as Me and My Pets, the artist crafts sculptural dresses, which don't subscribe to any gender norms.

Artist Gurjeet Singh too uses textile to counter heteronormative stereotypes and queerphobia. In his soft sculptures, scrap fabric is stitched together in multiple layers to create a literal and metaphorical thick skin. His work, “seeks ways to build resilience… Singh’s figures manifest as eccentric, phallic forms with exaggerated facial features. It demonstrates his realisation that reciprocating with anger is the least productive response to words of abuse. Capturing experiences of severe discomfort, his works simultaneously embody a quiet defiance,” states a curatorial note by Chemould CoLab, Mumbai, which has been exhibiting the artist’s work.