It is an urban challenge, filling up your rather restricted home spaces with the quirks of your own personality. Artist Manisha Gawade sensed this tacit need to glamourise interiors by adding a spot of colour and a lick of paint to otherwise lacklustre pieces of furniture to get your home to speak volumes about your persona.
“The boring shades of brown have always irked me,” confesses Manisha. “As an artist, I felt tempted by the large blank canvas available in furniture. It beckoned me eagerly. That is how I began drawing unconventional designs on paper, making pencil sketches and digitally creating them through 2D and 3D versions. Only when I was satisfied that they would work in terms of functionality, did I venture into the physical process of creating them,” she elaborates on the inception of her journey. Though, as she confesses, working on wood as a medium is at least 10 times more difficult compared to working with canvas.
So, the 4 ft x 2 ft chest of drawers for storing your vanity essentials spices up the storage sweepstakes by arriving in the shape of a woman’s cocktail dress. Dubbed Pretty Scarlet, it was inspired by Manisha’s painting, Sunset Yellows. “It was a challenge to create and then paint as it involved plenty of drip lines on it in acrylic inks. The sheer physicality of moving the entire weight and volume of this piece of furniture at the correct angles to create the long drip lines was quite a feat,” laughs Manisha.
There is a sizeable quantum of research that goes into the making of every piece of furniture, to explore the strength, durability and functionality of every creation as a worthwhile investment for the end buyer. Of course, this has involved a good amount of experimentation with polish and finish to ensure that the furniture actually lasts a lifetime.
“I strongly believe that using good quality wood and fine finish veneers is absolutely paramount. Both the colours and top coats run between 14-16 layers which include several protective and waterproof layers as well,” she explains. Her favourite is the inclusion of gold and silver leafing to enhance the beauty and appeal of her work. “The most uncommon realisation has been that paintings are more than mere objects of beauty pegged on the wall. My inherent challenge has been to use them on furniture of everyday use, and yet make each one look like a treasured piece of art.”
The ease of use and the camouflage work seamlessly to bring in an element of discreet multifunctionality in her works. For instance, the chest of drawers can be used to store makeup, jewellery, lingerie, watches and cufflinks, if placed in the walk-through closet area of your master bedroom. Alternatively, if placed in a den, it could pack in playing cards, rummy chips, and other sundry game objects. Similarly, the coffee tables or side tables double up as party platforms as and when required.”
Manisha has built a visual narrative around her latest collection of art furniture, titled Keepsakes as she wants these pieces of art to be passed on from one generation to another. “Like I relate them to various beautiful memories that are etched in my mind from various journeys in my life, I am sure others too will relate to them as for most of us, journeys overlap.”
The passion is evident in her eyes and in her voice as she speaks of her favourite pick—the tiny 2 ft x 2 ft ‘Post-it table’ replete with wood cuts and line drawings in pigment inks, with a complexion that speaks of her multiple memories and sojourns across the globe. “It has line drawings of monuments visited, hot air balloons sailed in, pizzas gobbled, phonecalls made, churches and gardens savoured—the entire gamut of travel experiences come alive through this piece.”
Her artful sojourns create splendid tables, chairs, bars, wall units and cupboards, laced with her paintings, belying her intermittent affair with glass, textile, paper, wood, metal, cloth and fiberglass. Apart from her solo exhibitions, Manisha has been a part of nearly 125 group exhibitions in various parts of the world, including highly acclaimed shows on wearable art, like Ehsaas held at New Delhi and Painting a Thread held at Dubai.
Well-known for having displayed her works at various embassies and art fairs in Dubai, Hungary, Amsterdam, Bahrain and Muscat to depict the beautiful interplay of the Indian and Arabic cultures, Manisha is the first Indian artist to have received the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, and Dubai Art and Culture Authority.