Earlier this year I travelled to India.   Our journey started in Jaipur in the north, then down to Mumbai then further down into Kerala where we stayed at Cochin and then to the backwaters of Southern India.

We were fortunate to witness artists and craftspeople working in the traditional crafts of dying, weaving, spinning and block printing. We attended a traditional block printing workshop where we produced our own hand printed cloth. I have used this cloth in a series of works for this exhibition combining it with hand stitching referencing the ancient craft of kantha stitching.

The landscape, temples, palaces and buildings were inspiring, I was immediately drawn to the pattern and designs that decorate and adorn the buildings, so beautiful, so intricate, so old. I was inspired by the vibrancy of colour and pattern of these buildings and as a result, I have created a series of wall pattern design artworks.

One cannot travel to India without experiencing the vibrancy and intricate patterning of the clothing, especially the boarder designs of the Sarees. The exquisite designs, the beautiful colour cloth, and the unique patterns that adorned them are something to behold. I have created a small series of works that acknowledges the beauty of these boarder patterns. 

When thinking about creating work for this exhibition I was mindful that I did not want to recreate the well-known motifs and patterns that we associate with India, I have instead tried to produce work that provides viewers with my interpretation of the very beautiful and amazing places we visited, and the experiences we had. 

 Exhibition was with Michelle Hungerford who travelled with me to India. Exhibition held at Weswal Gallery, Tamworth NSW October 2023