It started with a lotus leaf in the Puris’ living room. When Daizy Lal Puri and Jasmer Puri brought home a hand-painted lotus leaf artwork this year, they were surprised they had brought calm home, too—and also by how little this Southeast Asian nature-led art form was seen in India. This resulted in Alaya Artistry, a collection of objets d’ art of preserved lotus leaves, petrified wood, glass, and sculptural ceramics, each chosen for its material, craftsmanship and sense of quiet. Named after the Sanskrit word for sanctuary or dwelling, Alaya brings art into the home to encourage contemplation and quietude.
Its newest product, Stillness, Interrupted, a collaboration between Veena Chandran Studio and ceramicist Manish Law, expands that vocabulary. In the Puri philosophy, rarity was the first filter. “Can you find this easily anywhere else?” is the question they ask themselves on every potential addition. They were taken by Himapan Studio’s lotus leaf works by Thai artist Catherine Khoohathong. Leaves are harvested, preserved, and skeletonised, their intricate veins forming the canvas for layers of hand-painted detail.
The same instinct brought petrified wood into the collection: trees transformed into stone over millions of years, their grain and organic structure preserved in the process. The studio sources pieces from specialists across Southeast Asia, Africa, and the US. Its ceramics collection similarly favours artists who allow nature to shape the work. Namrata Baruah’s A Ware Studio forages its own soils and minerals to create surfaces that cannot be replicated, as seen in the Earthskin Bottle, fired without an applied surface treatment. Bharati Pitre’s Olee Maatee works with wet soil to create symbolic forms, from Form 09, which explores renewal, to Abundance 03, with its golden seed motifs.
Stillness, Interrupted pairs Chandran’s glass and light practice with Law’s ceramic forms. “Ceramic carries the patience of earth, while glass brings the movement of light,” say the Puris. In Stillness Interrupted I, brown tempered glass sits over black stoneware, shifting with every change in perspective.
Nothing at Alaya Artistry is produced in editions. Lotus leaf works take eight to ten weeks, Olee Maatee ceramics six to eight weeks, while petrified wood and A Ware Studio pieces ship immediately. “It goes beyond storytelling,” say the Puris. “It is about how the story makes you feel.” The result is a collection that asks to be lived with—not simply acquired.