art marries design by arpan patel from india

Art Marries Design My work is inspired from Indian Marriage. India has a very rich cultural heritage with so many crafts, festivals and customs. Marriages are a very small part of this heritage but in here also you can see so many crafts. As a craft designer, I feel that each and every craft has a great potential and I can utilize them so that I can motivate these crafts as well as the craftsmen and work together with them. I am really fascinated with all the small traditions and rituals that are a part of Indian marriages and hence, I took this as my starting point. My main motive was to incorporate Indian crafts in my creations and by selecting Indian marriages, I felt I could build a beautiful backdrop for my work. One of the important ceremonies in marriages is ‘Mehndi’ when the bride’s hands and legs are decorated with delicate and intricate patterns of hena. I have utilized this hena pattern on the surface of the furniture to signify this wonderful ceremony. These patterns can also be custom made if required. I was inspired by the varied cloth folds that one can see in the marriage ceremonies for example folds in the groom turban, Sardi (bride’s attire) and the knot between bride and groom. I simplified the style of turban folds to make the form of my table and to give a contemporary look to my furniture whereas the weave of the turban is an inspiration for the weave of my chair. The colors that I have used are the most important colors in traditional marriage such as the red which symbolizes the kumkum (vermillion) brides placed on their foreheads after marriage for long and healthy lives of their husbands and also the groom turban and the dress of the groom are in red color. Lac bangles i have used to join the legs. All the materials used for this product such as hena, kumkum(vermillion), lac bangles are Eco friendly.