In the Tapestry of Life: Exploring the art practice of Priya Ravish Mehra

Aranya Bhowmik

We are living in a complex era marked by environmental, political, and social challenges. In the face of these challenges, art has the power to illuminate the complexities of human existence on this planet. It serves as a lens through which we can understand the reality of our world and the intricate web of life. This article aims to explore the concept of existence, its fleeting nature, and the ongoing struggle for meaning, through a study of the artistic oeuvre of Priya Ravish Mehra. I will delve into these concerns and analyze how her works reflect them. Mehra’s relentless exploration of the fragility and transience of existence seeks to preserve the imprints of time, even as she grapples with the precariousness of life itself.

The rugged, perched, stitched, patched, and darned terrains of Priya Ravish Mehra’s work explore certain concerns through a distinctive visual language that incorporates diverse materials and processes. Priya Ravish Mehra was a significant personality in the contemporary art scene of India. Her unfortunate demise, following a prolonged battle with cancer in 2018, was a tremendous loss to the art world. While her physical being struggled, her mind metamorphosed her malady as a motivation for art practice. In addition to being a highly recognized textile artist, designer, and researcher, she was also a socially conscious individual who succeeded in drawing attention to the significant but overlooked textile craft of Rafoogari, or darning of Najibabad. Priya found inspiration for healing and preserving her own life in the process of darning found in the rafoogari tradition. Priya’s practice was distinctive in its own way because it focused not just on the work of art itself but also on the process that involved different levels of interactions with communities as well as different disciplines. Therefore, we cannot classify her work as textile art or installation art; instead, it necessitates a distinct understanding of interdisciplinary and community-based art practice.

On one hand, her work reflects an assimilation of her interactions with different textiles and artistic traditions from various parts of India. These interactions encompass her observations, concerns, and personal experiences. On the other hand, Priya refers to the cosmological understanding of Reet: “Human life is an intimate reflection of the perennial cycles of nature. All existence on earth depends upon the regular arrival, change and departure of the seasons, a manifestation of reet, the cosmic order. It is all one process, one energy. Opposites contain each other–expansion and contraction, dispersion and concentration, reduction and augmentation, occlusion and clarification, emanation and dissolution.”[1] This suggests the philosophical and spiritual understanding of the process of rafoogari, which she connects to her own artistic practice.

Priya Ravish Mehra’s artistic journey began with exposure to the painstaking and rare textile tradition of rafoogari in her hometown of Najibabad, Uttar Pradesh. This childhood familiarity likely invoked her later pursuit of textile weaving and design studies at prestigious institutions like Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, the Royal College of Arts, and West Dean College in the UK. Santiniketan played a pivotal role in shaping her artistic consciousness and deepening her understanding of nature. The institution shaped by Rabindranath Tagore embodied his philosophy, emphasizing the plurality of nature and the importance of forging a connection with it. Immersed in this environment, Priya’s practice was fundamentally influenced by her interaction with nature. Subtly, it steered her artistic direction towards embracing imperfection and organic evolution as ideals rather than striving for manufactured perfection.

The extensive variety of material experiments had produced a captivating visual language that was unique to her sensibility. The artist’s work explores the transformation of materials over time, establishing a deep bond between the artist and the material. This connection is achieved using diverse techniques such as weaving, stitching, dyeing, papermaking, and darning. By doing this, she endeavored on a visual journey informed historical, spiritual, and philosophical significance. Time is represented in her work through a complex and experienced surface. Every material employed and manipulated possesses its own inherent importance. The wide range of materials, starting from thread, paper pulp, organic fibers, fabrics, woven cloth, indigo dye, tree barks, and various others, all contribute to the creation of a surface that conveys a unique artist’s sensitivity, encapsulating a profound existential exploration.

The expertise of rafoo was utilized to rectify the damage resulting from the usage and age of the textile. This involves meticulously utilizing a needle to repair the integrity of torn or deteriorated fabrics. Throughout the intricate narrative of Indian and global textile traditions, the community of darners remained unnoticed and undervalued, despite their indispensable contribution to the repair and restoration of these materials. The master rafoogars possess profound expertise, practical know-how, and innate perceptiveness that enable them to skillfully oversee the process of repairing damaged fabric. They meticulously diagnose the fabric’s condition and administer the appropriate treatment, rejuvenating it and bestowing it with renewed vitality. Generations of knowledge, individual experience, and practice develop the competence required to attain exacting precision in even the smallest measurements. However, the act of darning goes beyond simply carefully sewing together torn fabrics or repairing worn-out sections. Priya describes this act as a “reincarnation” that occurs when the fabric is mended from its previous damaged condition.

To understand her practice, it is important to look at her work and contemplate the intricacies attached to it. For instance, in one such Untitled (2017) piece, distinct red hues protrude from the dominant monochromatic pashmina fabric, reminiscent of wound-like gashes and spots that proliferate across the surface. The work’s contrasting hues intensify the visceral nature of these forms; the crimson hues beneath the beige fabric disrupt its opacity. The piece exhibits a minimalist aesthetic characterized by delicate hues and simple forms, yet it evokes a palpable sense of distress, akin to an irreparable wound that recurs repeatedly within the fabric of existence, impeding its natural progression. Upon observing these artworks, one is prompted to recall the “Wound” series by Somnath Hore, which consists of paper pulp pieces mostly monochromatic (sometimes with patches of red and brown) with minimal impressions of wound-like marks, capable of evoking a visceral response from the viewer.

She impeccably portrayed the essence of time’s transitory nature in her 2017 work, Untitled. The piece juxtaposes the fragments of a damaged pashmina shawl adorned with embroidered lines, which are connected by a whimsical flow that grows freely and unbounded. The shawls’ exquisite patterns are clearly visible in the pieces. She was mostly interested in uncovering the hidden repairs and mending on those pashminas. Preserving something in an impermanent world, defying the inevitability of decay, is an exceptional accomplishment. The paradox lies in the fact that the most exceptional rafoo craftsmanship is characterized by its complete invisibility. Rafoogari symbolizes the instinct for survival, as it involves the restoration of a piece of cloth without leaving any trace of its intervention. Priya Ravish Mehra’s application of rafoogari, with the aim of rendering the imperceptible perceptible, became a focal point of her work with the masterwork’s hidden nature. The repaired sections, instead of being hidden, become strikingly apparent when different components of the artwork joined together to create a distinct body of work. This concept engenders a paradox and elicits a deeper, intellectual perception that transcends the domain of ordinary material existence.

Priya Ravish Mehra
Untitled
Hand done rafoogari on pashmina cloth
2017
Image courtesy- Mehra Family/ Aranya Bhowmik/ to the author

Priya Ravish Mehra’s artistic creations were greatly influenced by her extensive use of plant fibers, including her adept manipulation of daphne bark and ramie plants. One of her Untitled (2016) artworks has tapestry-like characteristics created with ramie pulp, palm leaves, and twigs. The artwork features strewn palm leaves and twigs, which contrast with the flat beige  background. The unique blend of organic fibers produces the visual effect of a bruised and parched body. A number of pieces share similar compositional and material characteristics that, through atypical application of pulp and dried botanical parts, convey a feeling of agony and anguish. 

The intricate relationship between the materials Priya Ravish Mehra uses and the multi-layered ideas they represent reveals the significance of her art practice. The works exhibit a distinct path of concepts and issues that are connected to her own context, personal experiences, society, and culture. Her artworks are an integral component of her existence, which enabled her to derive inspiration and navigate the existential landscapes of life through her artistic activity. Priya’s life and practice are imbued with an unwavering determination, in which death does not signify the conclusion but rather bestows a renewed significance on her endeavors and existence—meanings that may serve as a wellspring of inspiration during the arduous periods that people around the world are going through.

References:

1. Mehra, Priya Ravish. “(in)Visible Reclamations.” Inter-Actions, Vol-1, Quarter 2, July 2018, https://lilainteractions.in/priyas-write/#_ftn1
2. Correspondent, Dc, et al. “The Art of Repair.” Deccan Chronicle, 14 Mar. 2019, www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/books-and-art/140319/the-art-of-repair.html.
3. Rizio. “Towards an Unperfect Swaraj.” Inter-Actions, Vol-,Quarter-2 1 July2018, https://lilainteractions.in/intro-rizio-humane-translocality/
4. Hemmings, Jessica. “Priya Ravish Mehra: Witness to the Invisible.” Jessica Hemmings, 1 Feb. 2012, www.jessicahemmings.com/witness-to-the-invisible.
5. Vohra, Smriti. “Dossier: The Art of Priya Ravish Mehra.” Cahiers De La Fondation: Indialogues No6, Jan. 2015, www.fondationalaindanielou.org/intellectual-dialogue/indialogues/cahiers-de-la-fondation-indialogues-n6-december-2014january-2015/#part_4.
6. Mehra Ravish, Priya. ‘One Thread Only…” Unseen Art, Invisible Artisans: The Rafoogars of Najibabad. India, Khoj International Artist Association, Norwegian Embassy, 2013.

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[1] Mehra, Priya Ravish. “(in)Visible Reclamations.” Inter-Actions, Vol-1, Quarter 2, July 2018, https://lilainteractions.in/priyas-write/#_ftn1

About Author

Aranya Bhowmik is a doctoral researcher with a strong interest in modern and contemporary art and art history. Currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Fine Arts discipline of Humanities & social Sciences Dept. at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, his academic journey began with a graduation in History of Art from Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. He further honed his expertise with a post-graduation in Art History and Aesthetics from the M.S. University of Baroda.

Aranya brings a wealth of experience to the field. He has actively taught at esteemed institutions like the S.N. School of Arts & Communication (University of Hyderabad), Rajiv Gandhi University (Arunachal Pradesh), and Sister Nivedita University (Kolkata). Additionally, he has played a key role in developing curriculum and courses for diverse age groups at the Vadodara Visual Arts Centre, Vadodara.

His research interests in modern and contemporary art are reflected in his curatorial projects. Notably, “Material Metaphor” (2021), supported by Astanzi.com, explored experimental art practices and the unique ways women artists utilize materials in their work. This project aligns with his current doctoral research, which investigates the history, stylistic shifts, and critical aspects of experimental material practices employed by contemporary Indian women artists.

Aranya actively engages with the art community beyond his research. He has presented papers at national conferences and webinars  NIFT Gandhinagar (webinar) and  Sri Sri University, Odisha. He has also presented paper in international conferences Thailand, Bangladesh, and Cambodia. During his studies at the M.S. University of Baroda, he co-founded and edited the art and aesthetics journal “Insignia”. His scholarly contributions extend to publications in reputed art magazines, journals, and blogs, including Art & Deal, Art East, Art Facts, Astanzi.com, Searching Lines, Design for All, and Artsome.co.

Currently based in Kanpur, Aranya remains dedicated to furthering his research and contributions to the vibrant world of art.