On 22nd August 1996, Moksha had its first exhibition in Obsession Gallery, Kolkata
By this time I had formally trained myself in Batik and was ready to take baby steps in that direction. Hand painting still remained the favourite and I was looking at Tantric art, Tribal art, Aztec art, looking at Nature for inspiration borrowing colours from the ocean and the flowers and the changing seasons : Truth be told, I was learning to look for Art in everything around me and I realized that even the seemingly ordinary stuff  around us had the potential to become extraordinary!
It’s really very difficult to explain the almost addictive joy I found in this world of designs and would often work till the late hours of the night, with my fabric spread out on the dining table, working feverishly and waiting for the magic of the finished product to keep me going.
exhibition invitation
Some nights, nothing happened – the fabric would be in front of me, I would be standing in front of it, pencil in hand, paint brushes untouched; I would stare and think, think and stare but still, nothing happened; maybe the next night or two nights later it did and the joy returned, doubled.
As a result of this new-found joy, I found that I had a huge stock of sarees and dupattas and kurtas and I didn’t know what to do with those! The logical conclusion was, of course, to hold an exhibition and that happened on 22nd August, 1996.
saree exhibition
saree exhibition
saree exhibition
Morning shows the day, one is told and the morning was almost like a dream with customers coming in, and picking up what they liked amidst much appreciation, the press was there to cover the event and it all seemed like a fairyland—until the dark monsoon clouds decided to play havoc and there was hardly any footfall in the second half of the day with roads getting waterlogged and traffic coming to a standstill in many places.
Moksha saree exhibition
hand painted sarees in Kolkata
Disappointing? Yes  of course, but not strong enough to give up the dream
The First Exhibition.
On 22nd August 1996, Moksha had its first exhibition in Obsession Gallery, Kolkata
By this time I had formally trained myself in Batik and was ready to take baby steps in that direction. Hand painting still remained the favourite and I was looking at Tantric art, Tribal art, Aztec art, looking at Nature for inspiration borrowing colours from the ocean and the flowers and the changing seasons : Truth be told, I was learning to look for Art in everything around me and I realized that even the seemingly ordinary stuff  around us had the potential to become extraordinary!
It’s really very difficult to explain the almost addictive joy I found in this world of designs and would often work till the late hours of the night, with my fabric spread out on the dining table, working feverishly and waiting for the magic of the finished product to keep me going.
exhibition invitation
Some nights, nothing happened – the fabric would be in front of me, I would be standing in front of it, pencil in hand, paint brushes untouched; I would stare and think, think and stare but still, nothing happened; maybe the next night or two nights later it did and the joy returned, doubled.
As a result of this new-found joy, I found that I had a huge stock of sarees and dupattas and kurtas and I didn’t know what to do with those! The logical conclusion was, of course, to hold an exhibition and that happened on 22nd August, 1996.
Morning shows the day, one is told and the morning was almost like a dream with customers coming in, and picking up what they liked amidst much appreciation, the press was there to cover the event and it all seemed like a fairyland—until the dark monsoon clouds decided to play havoc and there was hardly any footfall in the second half of the day with roads getting waterlogged and traffic coming to a standstill in many places.
Disappointing? Yes  of course, but not strong enough to give up the dream
Moksha survived!