NOT FOR YOUR VASE
INTRODUCTION
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The series ‘Not for your Vase’ celebrates the flowers that typically do not make it to our vases, luxury arrangements and bouquets. The four flowers that form the backbone of this series are not only beautiful and delicate, but at the same time have a wild, rebellious streak in them. They take from nature whatever little they need and survive on their own terms. Depending on how you look at them, you can call them a weed, a poison, or a medicine! All these flowers tell a story. A story of survival, a story of strength and the story of my trip to India in 2022.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Just like the contrasting nature of these flowers, the clays used here belong to the two extreme ends of the color spectrum - Black Clay and Porcelain. This also happens to be my signature style, where I tend to explore the contrasting aspects of nature. These ceramic sculptures have been left unglazed to show off the natural color and the characteristics of the clay. The monarch butterflies are made of overglazed porcelain. Here, they represent my memories and the emotions I felt when I first saw these flowers. The butterflies tend to sit on spots that drew my attention the most.
While these flowers maybe found in other parts of the world and may commonly be known by different names, I felt it was more befitting to use the name by which they were introduced to me by the local communities.
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The order of the flowers - Dhatura, Aak, Jungle Phool and Satyanasi, represent the progress of my story and my inspiration.
Working on ‘Not for your Vase’ was an interesting realization of how we tend to not notice the richness that surrounds us. We look at them regularly, but do we truly understand? I found a strange similarity between the nature of humans and in the nature of plants . They all have the same struggles, and are sharing similar stories. These sculptures are an effort to share whatever I understood of those stories with everyone.