RACHNA GARODIA

My work is informed by observing the natural world - constantly changing, yet still. My initial impetus to create has always come from nature and I often go on long walks to spark my creative process.

“Material exploration and collaging unexpected textures together in a warp have always been the starting point of my work. My visual language continues to evolve with echoes of my life in India together with the experience of living in London for the past 14 years.”

My woven tapestries seek to bring the ‘outside’ in, evoking simple pleasures from a woodland walks and changing seasons. I work with a range of natural yarns like linen, cotton, hemp, nettle, raffia, paper and silk that I source from around the world. I include foraged materials like bark, grass, leaves, twigs, branches and foliage which are gathered on my walks and prepared in the studio.

I am constantly exploring and evolving fresh ways the audience perceives and interacts with my work, from wall art to screens and space dividers to 3D objects.

Rachna trained at the prestigious National Institute of Design in India and The Royal School of Needlework in London, she now works from her studio in Richmond. She was recently shortlisted for the Sustainability First Art Prize in 2020.