Kangan Arora thinks of herself as an eccentric but it’s really
more of an
endearing quirkiness that comes through . She is the proverbial small town girl from
Ludhiana but her work clearly reflects an urbane illustrative style that draws constantly from cityscapes and faces around her. She is currently pursuing
Textile Design at the prestigious Central Saint Martins
college of Art and Design,
London & adores Auroville, Murakami & Wong Kar Wai flicks.
MC: Tell us a little about your background , education and such.
KA: I come from a family that has it’s roots in the business of Silk sarees , Bridal trousseaus, etc. I Went to the National Institute of Fashion Technology to study Fashion Design. This was in Gandhinagar. Now, Gujarat being Gujarat (what with Kutch, Tanetar, Calico et al) - I was always inspired by craft, and technique and fabric . So all my work (for example the Kantha and block printing) was always directed more by the fabric, rather than the styling.
MC: So, you are a textile designer then.
KA: Well, a multi disciplinary designer really. It helps that I've studied both fashion and textile.It broadens my options. At this point I’d love to design textiles for home furnishings, which is why I recently did a collection of wallpaper. I don’t want to rule out fashion as an option but we'll see what comes along.
MC: What are your big influences?
KA:India.Intentionally,unintentionally.Consciously, subconsciously. I'm very big on Photography. I love the idea of documenting small details.Everything I shoot helps me with colour, composition, scale, shape, form & pattern when I'm designing. I guess you could say I like the idea of 'visual communication', which is why I love textiles and photography and the narrative quality that they can (or cannot) have.
MC:How would you define your work?
KA:Being a student, you don't have a particular style really.I guess that will develop once I'm out of college. The idea is to go back home and work with craftspeople to contemporarize traditional Indian textiles.For now, I'm doing a lot of screen printing.
MC:Would you like to say anything to the people reading this interview?KA:Hello :)
Posts
Beautiful post Powerpuff:-)
ReplyDeleteLoved Kangan Arora's interview:-)
She is one of my flickr contacts, whose work I really like:-)
Thanks for sharing:-)
Hey Arch,
ReplyDeleteshe's awesome eh? so talented, is bound to go far .
awesome, awesome, awesome. I love her style of drawing, kind of disjuncted and contemporary and aubrey beardsley-ish all at the same time. And the screenprints and the textiles, ah, what I'd do for a little snippet!
ReplyDeletefantastic work!
ReplyDeletePav, I LOVE these little interviews you do!
it was interesting to hear how she lives with her camera and uses it. Should check her flickr stream.
HM,
ReplyDeleteShe lives in London and will probably join the work force soon :) I guess it's only a matter of time before you can get your hands on her textiles. I would personally love a kooky old arm chair covered in one of those fabrics or maybe even one of the wallpaper designs. Wild.
Vineeta, I'm so glad you like them. yay. haha, sometimes I wonder if it's worth the time and effort that goes into this blog but your comment is all I needed to hear .
Oh HM, I checked out Aubrey Beardsley. Fantastic work.
ReplyDeleteThese are fantastic. I can't pick a favorite but the cream with geometric shapes in blue & orange is struggling for first place.
ReplyDeletewow, this is stunning. so layered...i love the sense of humor too. it really comes out in the designs. i'd love to see her design for furniture indeed.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI love what you're doing with this blog! My friend posted a link to your blog on our graphic design batch's blog (www.fellowgraphites.blogspot.com).
I love the fact that you feature Indian work. Its nice to see other work :D Inspiring
THANK YOOOO!
:)
Ambika, glad you liked it.
ReplyDeleteMiss Bruno: Thanks for visiting !
sayerhs: Wow, thats kinda cool :) Checked the site, why iisn't there any cool Graphic Design on it though! I'd love to feature upcoming artists , ask your friends to send in something! Would love to take a look and give them the exposure.
Ms Masala Chai, thank you for the introduction, so full of energy and balancing tradition and vision, nice!
ReplyDeleteI posted Indian tradition today, Hope I didn't get something wrong! I love kolam :)
I love this work and think she's an amazing artist, and am also incredibly jealous that shes doing it at my old college where I wish I was too.
ReplyDeleteSo on that note and regards to you looking after my son, spicy food and stray dogs, he'd be in his element, plus to the other things you mentioned..... somethings are inevitable!
I'd rather he drank a good mix of tea and coffee though. You'd be a bad substitute mother if you didnt give him a choice!
K
It's good to see Kangan's work here. I've been following her work since I got on to flickr. She is much FUN!
ReplyDeleteKate: I'm actually against kids consuming caffeine in any which way. But ice cream is good ! So thats redeems me in the eyes of my future kids.
ReplyDeleteAkshay: Indeed.
Thanks for putting up the interview- her work is fabulous! (esp. the one of the band guys...I'd love to see how her work translates to fashion).
ReplyDeleteHello everyone!
ReplyDeleteSorry I haven't had the chance to thank you all. really busy now that I'm back home for a holiday.
Checked out Aubrey Beardsley as well... pretty amazing! Thanks for the reference.
Thank you for your comments and feedback!
Kangan
x
frankly, i happened to bump into this 'blog business' searching for indian contemporary art & design. and well, this has been the second full day i'm spending at my workplace, sipping away 'spicy tea' gleefully amidst the gloomy monsoon rains. and not feeling so guilty about it too!
ReplyDeletetwo fine days and hullo! look who's featured here! i must say, kangan has been quite a bit of surprise to me post NIFT. and here she is.
one must see her fabulously detailed felt tip drawings at FLICKR to understand the beauty she can create out of the fairly ordinary.
kudos to whoever is behind 'masala chai' to have brought good work together and let me one more chance to believe in my peers from my homeland.