Call it serendipity or what you will…. A name that crops up at work and is researched extensively makes me rewind to the last Independence Day when the bright Google Doodle had caught my eye.
The creation showed the Parliament House in saffron, the Ashoka Chakra, flanked by two peacocks, India’s national birds, in shades of blue and green. I remember noticing that this form had been intricately quilled.
I swiftly find the Mumbai-based artist Sabeena Karnik’s work online and spend some time browsing through it on several platforms. In a leisurely fashion, I zoom in and out of the images of her intricate and colourful works, making mental notes on how paper has been lovingly shaped to create different forms that represent letters, sayings, monuments, brand logos and more. Just recently, on creating the letter S in the shape of a swan for the @36daysoftype on social media, Sabeena had been described by that artistic community thus: ‘a true master in her own style and technique…. Her amazing works are all handmade, and made by playing with the organic forms of the material and with a vibrant colour palette, to create illustrations that stand out for their complexity and their delicacy. A style that has made this paper artist from Mumbai internationally known….’
Having read about a hedgehog’s prickly quills and a writer’s elegant quill, I dive into the creative world of an artist who shapes paper to her will, bending it to the sway of her imagination. I learn more about quilling, the art form that is also known as paper filigree. It has been chronicled how during the Renaissance, nuns and monks would roll gold-gilded paper remnants trimmed during the bookmaking process, and use them — as a substitute for costly gold filigree — to beautify religious objects. It later became a polite pastime of young ladies in 18th- and 19thcentury England. The practice is supposed to have spread across the Atlantic with the colonisers, who used it to embellish their home decorations.
This story is from the May 2018 edition of Verve.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2018 edition of Verve.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Making Amends
This generation’s penchant for thoughtless consumption gets Madhu Jain roiled up, and she wonders if nature is getting its own back for our missteps…
Diamonds With Provenance
In keeping with the company’s commitment to environmental and social responsibility, Anisa Kamadoli Costa, chief sustainability officer at Tiffany & Co. and chairman and president at The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, enlightens Shirin Mehta on the efforts that make the jewellery giant an industry leader in transparency
SARTORIAL ECONOMICS
Sisters Tashi and Tara Mitra demonstrate to Akanksha Pandey how deviating from the mainstream can bend the way we think, live and dress
NOTES TO SELF
An anthropomorphized tiger’s perspective, a viscerally worded futuristic interpretation of loss, a critique of performative activism, a meta reflection on the earth’s crises. Told through different lenses, Janaki Lenin, Indrapramit Das, Keshava Guha and Roshan Ali’s stories — written exclusively for Verve — attempt to make sense of the fraught reality that we exist in today
The Eternal Optimist
As Generation X and xennials grapple with fully transitioning to conscious living, young millennials and Generation Z are leading the charge to reverse human-caused environmental damage. Sahar Mansoor, founder and CEO of the Bengaluru-based zero-waste social enterprise Bare Necessities, has a simple overarching philosophy: consume less and stay positive. Verve gets deeper into the mindset of the action-oriented earth advocate
Redemption SONGS
Indian music festivals have been demonstrating a refreshing sense of responsibility in terms of their ecological impact. Interacting with stakeholders who strive to make these large-scale events greener, Akhil Sood investigates the reasons behind the improved attitudes of audiences and the increase in corporate support.
earth hour
Crafted using nature’s elements, these dials draw inspiration from the many heterogeneous materials and hues around us.Verve turns its lens onto a mesmerising few
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Children are holding adults accountable for both the grim future they are facing and the toll this is taking on their mental health. Madhumita Bhattacharyya initiates conversations with families of young climate activists and observes the extent to which parenting has changed in the face of catastrophe
NATURAL JUSTICE
Most of us are only just waking up to the urgency of climatic action. When the stakes are so high, what can individual action solve? Mridula Mary Paul, an environmental policy expert, is proof of the tenacity needed to effect systemic change. It’s not glamorous, and the rewards are few and far between, but that doesn’t stop her from aiming big, finds Anandita Bhalerao
Along For The Ride
Navigating Indian streets as a woman is hard enough. But what is it like while riding a bicycle? Bengaluru-based Shreya Dasgupta, a regular cyclist, speaks to five urban women about the pros and cons of this increasingly popular means of transport.
