This Mumbai art exhibition aims to celebrate simple movements of nature through textile

Bloom. Pics Courtesy/Tao Art Gallery; Isha Pimpalkhare

The scrolling culture rules out the possibility for the current generation to entertain boredom - an emotion that many neuroscientists believe is important for creativity and original thinking. If we don't like something, we scroll. With content being fed to us constantly one reel after another, it leaves us with no time to think or observe. Hence, when this writer came across mixed media artist Isha Pimpalkhare's ongoing debut solo exhibition Alive, AFlow, that aims at celebrating being alive by shedding light on simple yet captivating movements like breathing and transforming, we are intrigued.

Close up of Gush by Pimpalkhare

On display at Worli's Tao Art Gallery are 14 textile installations that capture life-like and visceral emotions. "The aim of the exhibition is to make art come to life. Being formally trained in textiles and having worked closely with the medium, the idea of a maker deeply resonates with my practice. The act of creating art helps me find a sense of higher purpose and fulfilment - a flow, which also attempts to find its way onto the textile," the 31-year-old explains. Having completed her Masters in Textiles (Mixed Media) from the Royal College of Art, London in 2019, she combines technology with textile, bringing the idea of smart design into art installations.

The exhibition includes 11 hanging textile installations, one site-specific experiential installation and two kinetic textile sculptures. In the hanging textile installations, like Gush and Ripple, fragments of textile are arranged to give the artwork a sense of movement. "My artwork is inspired by my surroundings or the environment. There is another piece called Infinity where eight finite panels made of finite textile in a finite space come together to make an infinity-like, never-ending artwork," she says.

The artist, who is currently experimenting with kinetic art, has two of her kinetic sculptures - Alive and Bloom - on display. "The two sculptures mimic simplistic and fundamental movements of nature that make anything seem alive - breathing, transforming, moving and responding." Bloom is a floral piece that opens and closes at a slow-paced rhythm, just like a flower. Alive, on the other hand, is brought to life by light," she elaborates, informing us that the overall intent is to create a serene therapeutic atmosphere to enable us to celebrate the joy of simply being alive.

On: January 5, 11 am to 7 pm
At: Tao Art Gallery, 65, The View, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli.