Making carpet art is an adventure – and a lengthy process, that involves a lot of work. Many steps and many people. It gave me an understanding, of how important it is, to communicate clearly. To translate the original vision of the design in a way, that will not be misunderstood. When two people look at one thing, they may see and perceive it differently. And even more so, when these people have a different cultural background. It is stunning to see a carpet beong made, seeing skilled hamds tufting it, washing and drying it, cutting it and thus turning it from a 2-D image into a 3D object
“RHAPSODY” an ancient Greek word that means “songs stitched together” holds a spirit of collaboration, freeflow, contrasting moods, colours, and tonality. My friend Sharmeen Attarwala and i chose it as a title for one of our artistic carpet series that was derived from a set of abstract collages we worked on a while earlier.
An air of spontaneous inspiration and a sense of improvisation that felt like making music happened when we created the collages and transfered them into designs on the computer. In a dreamlike mode imagining the sunlight caressing warm stones, the peaceful architecture of quiet towns, light gleaming through windows, golden beiges changing into pink and pink into dusky blues, a trance in the poetic spaces of our minds.
Once made into handtufted carpets by skilled craftsmen in India they looked even more stunning. We love the slight relief structure they have, the soft touch and the silky shine, that makes the colours come alive and change with the light.
