Today we’d like to introduce you to Ekta Aggarwal
Hi Ekta, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born and brought up in Delhi, India, in a family where women did embroidery, knitting and sewing in their free time. My love for embroidery and sewing comes from this environment I grew up in. Gradually over the years, I felt drawn towards drawing and painting. I decided to become an artist after I completed my undergrad in Economics (Honours). I set up a studio at home where I continued to paint for several years. My initial subjects were self portraits, still life and scenes in my home. As I continued working, I began to lean towards grid based abstraction. I eventually decided to study art and did a masters in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts, London. After returning home to Delhi, and working by myself for a few years, I felt the need to further develop my art practice. I came to the US to study MFA at California Institute of the Arts. I now divide my time between Los Angeles and Delhi where I continue to maintain my studio.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a slow and steady journey for me. There have been ups and downs along the way but I have always felt supported by the universe.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I make textile paintings by stitching small pieces of scrap fabric and embroidering on khadi. Khadi, a simple hand spun cloth, played an important role in India’s struggle for freedom. Khadi was an initiative of Gandhi to resist British rule. He urged Indians to spin an hour everyday to make their own cloth, in order to make India self-reliant in the manufacture of cloth, an alternative to the imposition of machine-made fabric from the British Mills.
In my practice, I have made a deliberate decision to be more connected to my local community, my location and the places I visit in my daily life. The materials that I use to make textile paintings are sourced from shops near my home in Delhi. I buy khadi, which is the base of my paintings, from a shop that I have been visiting since my childhood. The scrap fabric that I use has been collected in my studio over the years. In my home studio in Delhi, I am assisted by women who live in nearby neighborhoods to make these textile paintings.
This focus on local production, local identity and consumption of materials from the local area, imbues the works with a sense of placeness, the relationship between art and site. As I work on these large textile paintings with my women assistants, the studio becomes a safe space for sharing personal and community stories and histories.
Any big plans?
I plan to continue working and making work that is interesting and engaging. I am planning to travel in India over the next few years to research and appreciate the rich variety and diversity of handmade Indian textiles, meet the people who make them and see how they are made.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ektaaggarwal.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e.aggarwal/
Image Credits
Studio Portrait- Photograph by Fritz Horstman
Paintings Pieces of the Past: I, Pieces of the Past: II, Pieces of the Past: III, Stitches, Patterns and Colors: Blue, Stitches, Patterns and Colors: Red- Photographs by Don Lewis
Painting Lines in a Wandering World, detail- Photograph by myself
