Between The Lines

Artist Rana Begum and fashion designer-artist Payal Khandwala are both master minimalists and mutual admirers who don’t disguise their love for clean shapes and bold use of form and colour. They talk to Neville Bhandara about what inspires, enrages and drives them to create.

- Neville Bhandara

London-based artist Rana Begum is not an easy woman to track down. She’s notoriously busy and rarely gives interviews. When we reached out to her in November last year, she was juggling home and studio renovations, as well as multiple ongoing projects—she has seven shows lined up this year, from Cambridge and Cornwall in the UK to Germany, Philippines and the US. Mumbai-based fashion designer-artist Payal Khandwala has had a busy 2018 as well. The year has already seen her open a dazzling new Bengaluru store and begin working towards an online retail presence. But our idea to get the two of them together, a creative coup of sorts, piqued their interest. The award-winning artist (Begum won 2017’s Abraaj Group Art Prize) is a fan of Khandwala’s deceptively simple aesthetic. So, we flew to London—where Begum opened up her studio to us on a cold, grey December day—and styled her in Khandwala’s striking signature fashion. And via a cross-continental conversation, we got them both to open up on the ideas and emotions that are vital to them and their work:

ON BEING AN ARTIST:

Rana Begum: “I feel privileged to be a practising artist. I wake up each day and think about how lucky I am to still be doing what I love. I owe this to so many people: the team at the studio, my gallerists, my family and my friends. Without their support and understanding, it would be impossible. The need to create is always there; everyone needs a mode of expression. I took a visual route. It’s not necessarily one that people always understand, but I am happy with it. Even though sometimes, I may not be sure where I’m going, I feel confident that this road is taking me somewhere.”