As a part of the Noho Art Club, I exhibited three original paintings at 33 Hawley in Northampton, MA in November 2025. These works were inspired by Indian textile techniques used across the country.
Threads
‘Threads’ is inspired by kantha embroidery, specifically nakshi kantha, which includes motifs and storytelling. Kantha embroidery is practiced in the Eastern states of India, namely, West Bengal, Odisha, and Tripura, and in Bangladesh. The embroidery technique, primarily based on a running stitch, can also involve more complex patterns and styles and is used for various purposes.
Historically, women across classes used this technique to recycle worn-out clothes into quilts or other valuable items, thereby weaving their own stories into the fabric. This piece, made with acrylic paint, tries to achieve that too. Each stitch is painted to mimic the running stitch and other motifs often used in nakshi kantha. I depict a garden at dusk, with flowers and birds decorating the canvas, and a hidden snake slithering through the plants.
Weave
‘Weave’ is inspired by the pai, mats woven from dried grass by artisans in Tamil Nadu, India. Now competing with industrially woven plastic mats and facing lower demand, far fewer artisans practice this highly technical and intricate craft. This piece aims to zoom in and appreciate the effort and high craftsmanship that go into a mat, from the harvesting and processing of the grass to the complex patterns woven together to create a comfortable, sustainable product.
The painting is primarily in acrylic, with details in Prismacolor pencils that add depth to each woven piece of dried grass. The shapes and colors are in high contrast to create an illusion, drawing the viewer into the details of the weave itself.
Zari
‘Zari’ is inspired by the Kanchipuram silk sarees and the intricate dance of the weft and the warp in a loom. The sarees are woven from silk threads, and the border elements, often made of gold or silver thread, are woven separately and joined later. This piece, meant to emulate a saree on a canvas, features traditional motifs along the border, with each gold thread painted individually. The shadows attempt to show soft folds of the saree.
In an increasingly mechanical and industrial world, artisanal craft is losing both demand and capital to cheaper-to-make and cheaper-to-buy alternatives. However, the essence of history, technology, and skill involved in these art forms can never be replicated. With this work, I aimed to highlight a sliver of the beauty and intricacies of these techniques, and hope to increase their reach.
Ananya Nidamangala Srinivasa 