Patrick Coué sees the materially-complex paintings by Shwarga Bhattacharjee and calls the works a perfect immersion into a reverie space far away from our “world of constant mediated inputs.” The works are both abstract historical landscapes and topographic maps, that are layered with meanings and feelings, Patrick says.
Read MoreThe textiles on view betray a range of technical skill in both the stitchery and designs. Some show a sophisticated ability to render forms and were obviously transferred from patterns, while others seem to have been made up as the embroiderer went along. It is hard to believe that the precision of stitching in the Bagh phulkari weren’t made by professional craftsmen. There is no surviving literature that would indicate how designs circulated–indeed, there is almost no surviving history of phulkari in general, hence the significance of this collection and its catalog.
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