Thoughtfully Produced Paper Stitching by Hemavathy Guha

Truth be told, one of the reasons I love this blogging gig to which I've assigned myself is that I'm able to meet artists all over the world without ever leaving my desk. Say what you want about the perils of the Internet and social media, but I often think about the goodness that chatting back and forth with people I'll most likely never meet in person has brought to my life.

deep purple stem stitches on ivory paper placed in corral shape and decorated with golden french knots.

Migration 9, 35x25cm

Recently, for example, an email arrived from Hemavathy Guha in Delhi, India that described her meaningful art.

Hi Ann, I wanted to let you know that I am a visual artist from India who has been working with needle and thread and buttons on canvas. During the Covid lockdown, I took to working on paper when canvas wasn't available. I am not a trained embroiderer, but I did a little bit of embroidery during childhood.

Migration 4, 35x25cm

I saw many labourers and workers returning to their villages during the lockdown. As there was no transportation, men, women, and children walked long distances to reach their homes. After watching this on TV, I did a series of works that I called Migration, using simple stem and French knot stitches. Several of these works have been bought by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in Delhi.

Environment Degradation Series II, 38x28cm

After the Migration series, I did some Environment Degradation works in the same manner of stitching on paper.

Let's Unite-I, 31.5cm diameter

I also did a few works affected by the war in Ukraine, not to mention the constant tension between India and her neighbours. For this, I tore the paper and restitched it and also included poems on border disputes and geographical differences.

art piece of painted blue paper with stitched buttons depicting river.

Yamuna II (River Body), 30x35cm

I continue to work on paper although I have done a few works on canvas also. As I was thinking about my next project, a thought came to me that I could do works on paper using small buttons and embroidery stitches.