To some, art is about mastery of a craft. To others, art is anything created by an artist that causes the viewer to feel some emotion. The fabric produced by K. Dakshinamurthi done in India’s hand block printing tradition meets at the intersection between those two schools of thought: the craftsmanship that goes into a piece of traditional Indian fabric is unparalleled and its beauty has inspired royalty.
Dakhinamurthi is one of the outstanding artists that is taking the time to bring this craft back to life.
“Kodali Karuppur is located near Kumbakonam. For centuries, this small village was famed for its expert weavers who spun the finest cotton tissue sprinkled with gold zari butis and pallu motifs that graced the women of the Serfoji Royal family,” explains Dakhinamurthi.“Sadly, with the passage of time, the weaver community dwindled and the knowledge of this highly skilled craft died with them”, he adds.
The cloth is a 100% organic fabric made from dyes made from natural colorants such as indigo, alizarine, catechu, manjista and moduga flower. Since dye formulation and procedures were kept secret and rarely shared, it was only through trial and error of constant experimentation that perfection was achieved.
We at J&O Fabric love this man’s dedication to his art form. It is quite rare that we find someone as in love with fabric as we are!
