The thread lends itself to many metaphors. We think of our lives—and of stories—as spun, stretched or interwoven with that of others into the fabric of a community, culture, mythology or nature. And it is this opportunity that artists T Venkanna and Smriti Dixit are using to introduce a gamut of themes from sexual freedom to feminine power and the link between art and sustainability. Showing at Gallery Maskara and Art Musings respectively, they make for a worthy multidisciplinary story emerging from the recently concluded Mumbai Gallery Weekend.

The thread becomes a medium to discuss longing, pleasure and frustration in Baroda artist Venkanna’s As I Am embroidered paintings. Co-created with with master zardozi artisans from Kalhath Institute in Lucknow, the exhibition is a revelation and a delight as the needle replaces the paintbrush, while “blurring the boundary between art and craft, artist and artisan”, as gallerist-curator Abhay Maskara puts it.