One of the things I undertook while at the Residency, was research of textiles from South and Central Asia to study their hand-embroidery techniques. My initial intent was to connect with the private collector Karun Thakar and have the chance to see artefacts from his exquisite collection. After a number of attempts, I realized I would have to find other sources for my research, so I started seriously looking at the V and A collection. They had recently opened their storehouse collection to the public where one could order up to 5 objects per appointment. So, I booked three such sessions across my time at the residency and looked at various pieces.

These included kantha, phulkari, ikat from Sulawesi, Indonesia, tied-dyed textile and hand-painted shamanic textile, also from Indonesia, jackets and tunics from Croatia, Kutch and Uzbekistan, embroidery from Kutch etc. I was also particularly interested to see these older textiles to see their quality of handwork, which was made with a different sense of time. Some of the artefacts must have taken years and years to get slowly made for ceremonial or domestic purposes.

Along with this, through the help of my friend Alice Clanachan who works at the prints and drawings department of the V and A, I got a brief session with their curator of central Asian textiles, Fuschia Hart, who showed me a collection of Afghan textiles. There were Hazara, Tajik and Kandahari veils, hair bags and prayer mats in a wide range of aesthetics. This was a truly special experience.

In terms of my practice, I mainly worked on two quilted and embroidered pieces while at the residency. One was large - 7.5 feet by 5.5 ft, that was already halfway, and the other was a new and more extensive iteration of a method I had explored a couple of years ago. A half-finished artist book also got completed while there. I feel that real exploration-based on research will happen when I am back in Bengaluru and have more time to give new work.

As part of our residency program, Gasworks arranged two-day trips, one visiting South London galleries and one in Bristol. For me, the Bristol trip was a highlight, which included going to the Martin Parr Foundation, Arnolfini and Spike Island. In particular, I loved discovering photographer Richard Billingham’s work while we were being shown several portfolios that the Martin Parr Foundation housed. Stephen Gill was another photographer whose work I was struck by. Spike Island was showing a retrospective of the British Guyanese artist Donald Locke, whose work, again, was just amazing, across ceramics, painting, installation and collage. We were also shown around the building and got to see some studios.

Gasworks also set up a good number of appointments with curators who were visiting London from elsewhere. The curators who stood out amongst this were Catriona Whiteford who works at Hayward Gallery and Yasufumi Nakamori.

I also attended a lot of exhibitions during the duration of the Residency. The exhibition I was most excited to see was the Leigh Bowery retrospective at the Tate Modern. Having known a little about his work and being intrigued, this was a great way to learn a lot more and have the chance to see the broad range of works that he had produced. Aside from the costumes he is most known for, were a lot of personal ephemera like postcards, letters and diary entries, as well as images from club nights, posters and videos of collaborative works. This was truly a chance in a lifetime that I will be close to my heart.

There was also a Hiroshige exhibition on at the British Museum. His work felt as fresh today as it must have been a couple of hundred years ago. As someone engaging in drawing, I had to buy the exhibition catalogue (something I have never done before). I felt like I needed to study his work across time.

From the film screenings I attended, I was most impacted by a couple of films by Stephanie Rothman, of whom there was a small retrospective at the Barbican. It was also extremely moving to be audience to her coming live on zoom on the last day. She was 88 and completely articulate about minute details of her work from the 70s, soon after which she was forced to stop as nobody was willing to produce her films. Her scripts were just impeccable in their humour, critique and clarity. It’s also just stunning cinematically. I am glad I discovered her work. Another piece that impacted me greatly was a dance performance by the choreographer Alex- Baczynski Jenkins. It was a long time since I had seen dance and the sound, lighting and movement in this were exquisite. I attended a few experimental music gigs at Café Oto which were a good recurring punctuation to my time there.

The open studio was a really nice day and probably the best engagement I felt with my work across the course of the residency. A good range of people visited and stuck around for brief conversations.

Gasworks is a very well-organized residency that takes good care of all the needful. It’s a little early for me to understand how this experience benefitted my practice. London revealed itself to be an opaque city that perhaps requires a certain personality to make the most of it or feel more at home there. That said, it’s a chance I probably won’t have again, so I didn’t  mind having gone through the harder aspects of being there. If anything, the benefit of this experience could be understanding that I might not fit into every place. And those high stress environments (the city) are not where I am personally my social best. It is an interesting exercise to feel uncomfortable from time to time, but there were several occasions when I wondered if it was worth it. But as someone who hopes that my work will get shown a little more widely someday, I also understand that one must attempt some things that don’t feel great.

The different works in museums, venues and other spaces are probably what will stay with me. I am grateful to have had the chance to see work of certain artists such as Hamad Butt, Emily Kam-Kngawarray, Hardi Kurda, Xterea and Nova Vanrable apart from those I have mentioned already. Time will reveal how this experience  might have impacted my outlook or practice. But it’s always a positive reinforcement to get to encounter formidable work as it reminds me not to get lazy.  Also, few places are this multicultural. So, I’m glad to have been able to glimpse that.