Shyamolie Madhavji
Mumbai-born Shyamolie Madhavji celebrates her ethnicity and ancestral roots through paintings inspired by the sights and sounds of her home city, and the customs and traditional crafts of her family’s motherland, Kutch, in western India. She experiments with various media in her work, though vibrant textiles and textile design unify her oeuvre, paying homage to the craftsmen of Kutch, and to the artist’s great grandmother whose practice of painting on saris and other garments has been a lasting influence.
If you are interested in Shyamolie’s work, please visit her website or instagram. Please send all enquiries to faceprints.shaymolie@gmail.com.
About :
Shyamolie’s artistic practice is heavily influenced by the Roagn and Ajrakh handicrafts of Kutch, and her passion for textiles. Her visits to her family’s ancestral homeland have enabled her to develop relationships with traditional artisans to study their styles of embroidery and weaving, which she distils into bright compositions combining scenes of daily life and her upbringing in Mumbai with the traditions of her ancestral past.
“I find myself continuously discovering more about the historical background of my country and emotionally connecting myself with various traditional customs and ethnic values.” - Shyamolie
Shyamolie uses photography as a way of conducting primary research for her work, capturing the people and architecture in both Mumbai and Kutch to inspire visuals she later translates to canvas. Her compositions celebrate seemingly ordinary scenes like the Dhobi Ghat, an open-air laundry space, or the fisherwomen of the Koliwada village in Mumbai. The people and scenes, rendered in black and white, take on a sort of transformational magic quality with the addition of contrasting, carefully placed, and colourful geometric designs inspired by Kutch textiles, particularly those of the Rabari tribe. The use of black paint, believed by the Rabari to be the most sacred colour, also serves to elevate the everyday.
Dhobhi Ghaat, Acrylic on canvas, 24.4 x 17.7 in.
Though she works largely with acrylics, which allow her to create the vibrant and intricate patterns in her work, Shyamolie has also experimented with using digital textile printing to add an installation element to her painting. In keeping with her passion for textiles and desire to experiment with and expand her artistic practice, she is currently working on new textile prints in the hopes of collaborating with interior and fashion designers.
Rabari Bhajiawala, 2020, 12 x 16 in., acrylic on canvas
Shyamolie’s work has been exhibited most recently in 2021 as part of Art is the Highest Form of Hope in Indian Art Express, Persona, a virtual exhibition at The Holy Art, The Next Generation spotlight series on the Vacant Museum, and Art for All at I Art Gallery, Bangalore.
Bio:
Shyamolie was brought up in a family of art lovers and artists in Mumbai and began painting at the early age of six. Her artwork is influenced both by the everyday scenes of her life in Mumbai, and the artisanship and religious values and beliefs of her ancestry in Kutch. Shyamolie received her Honors BA in Fine Art from the Arts University Bournemouth in 2020.
Exhibitions:
2021- Art For All, I Art Gallery, Bangalore
2021- The Next Generation Artist, Vacant Museum
2021- Persona, The Holy Art Gallery, London
2021- Art is the Highest Form of Hope, Indian Art Express 2020- Graduate Exhibition, Arts University Bournemouth 2019- Rabari Chaiwala, Arts University Bournemouth
2019- Pabi Ben’s Table Mat, Arts University Bournemouth 2019- Artefactum, Russell Cotes Gallery and Museum
2018- Rabari Transport, Arts University Bournemouth
2018- Shadows of the Archive, Arts University Bournemouth 2017- Out of the Box, Saffron Art Gallery, Mumbai
2016- Out of the Box, Saffron Art Gallery, Mumbai
2015- Out of the Box, Saffron Art Gallery, Mumbai
2014- Out of the Box, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
All Images Provided By The Artist.