French designer-turned-artist Caroline Dantheny combines elements of designing in her works. She does not follow any pattern, but experiments with different fabrics, semi-precious stones & feathers.
CHENNAI: A s Caroline Dantheny greets us with a vanakkam and continues to hang her art works on the walls at the Lalit Kala Akademi, we notice one canvas which has ants on the side. Just as we begin to think that the painting is ruined, she assures us that it's just one of her works from her latest collection. With her five-year 'adventure', Painting India, being unveiled, the Paris-based fashion designer-turned artist is visibly excited.
"I first came to Chennai in 2012 and I have been coming here since for two to six months to work on my project. I brought all my materials and made Chennai my home for those months," she says.
As a child, Caroline was interested in art but since her family was into fashion designing, it was natural for her to follow that. "But there was a point when I wanted to get back to painting and I had a choice to make –— either leave painting or designing. I gave up designing but incorporated some of the techniques in my work, thanks to Jean-Francois Lesage," she says.
Lesage, a master in embroidery, who runs House of Lesange in Paris, is also associated with Vastrakala in the city. He pushed Caroline to change her vision. "I asked him if I can translate my designs into art. He told me combine both, and invited me to his studio in Paris and Chennai. In Paris, I learnt all about fabrics, even those used centuries ago. And in Chennai, I learnt about the different kinds of embroidery and the techniques behind it," she shares.
Caroline brought all her materials here and worked on the project here too. "Hence, the name 'Painting India'. Every time I travelled to Chennai, I would carry close to 100 kg of materials from Paris," she laughs.
Caroline's paintings are all abstract and she does not follow a pattern. "I just go with the flow, paint and stop for a bit when I feel embroidery would suit well in that place. I would trace my designs on a paper and then on canvas. These designs are done by a team of embroiderers from Vastrakala," she smiles.
So stitching on canvas...was it difficult? "Oh, absolutely! We use a linen canvas here. Our initial idea was to embroider on silk cloth and patch it on the painting. Lesange told me that it would break the flow of the painting. Hence we decided to do the embroidery on the canvas," she explains.
The paintings, apart from making use of different fabrics and threads, also have semi-precious stones and feathers. "The ants you saw on the painting were made using black onyx to make it look real. I took pictures of groups of ants, followed their path and then came up with this idea," she laughs.
The canvases are two-three metres tall, and the connoisseurs will have to look at the painting from afar to understand it as a whole and from near, to see the intricate detailing. Among the 11 paintings that will be on display, one is a triptych named Le dernier royaume where the painting is spread across three panels. "This was tough to make but I had to do it. Since I had to make the connection with embroidery, I would draw the direction and connection on paper, match it with the painting. Sometimes we would work for five-six hours on a piece and if it doesn't match my idea, we would clear it and start afresh. It took me 45 days to finish," she says.
Now that five years of hard work is finally on display, Caroline just wants to sit back, relax and take it all in. "I have not thought about my future projects yet...I will go with the flow. But two things are for sure, I will continue with embroidery on canvas and will keep coming back to India," she smiles.
Painting India exhibition is on at Lalit Kala Akademi till Jan 28. For details call: 28291692