We had the good fortune of connecting with Ekta Aggarwal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ekta, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Growing up in Delhi, I was surrounded by handmade Indian textiles. My mom used to wear beautiful handwoven sarees and also dress us up in clothes made with Khadi in beautiful colours. My love for textiles found expression in my paintings when I went to Chelsea College of Art to study masters in fine art and started painting Indian textile patterns from memory.

In 2014, I founded Curry Tree Design, where I worked with craftswomen to make handmade bags with handmade Indian textiles. This project brought together my love for textiles and my desire to work with people. As the project evolved I became aware of the amount of scrap fabric being generated in my studio. I started collecting all this scrap fabric with the intention of upcycling into designs for bags.

I now use all this scrap fabric to make paintings by sewing it on Khadi.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am happy with the way I have expanded my painting practice to include interesting materials like scrap fabric, handspun Khadi, natural pigments and Khadi paper and also connect with the local community around my studio in Delhi.

I make textile paintings by sewing and stitching small pieces of scrap fabric and embroidering on Khadi. The process of making these textile paintings is very labor intensive. I employ women from low income neighbourhoods near my home in Delhi to assist me in my studio. Assisting me in my studio- stitching and embroidering on Khadi, means not only employment for these women but also financial independence and a space for affirmation of their skills.

Working with women in my studio has been a growing experience as I am learning to navigate personalities and lipstick marks and oil stains on my textile works. At the same time I know that the work that we do together is meaningful not only for me but also for them and the studio is a safe space for us.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my friends were visiting me this weekend, I would take them to see The Feminist Art Program exhibition at REDCAT. I think this is an important and interesting exhibition to see as it brings together diverse feminist voices and histories from 1970s till present.

LA has a lot of great museums like LACMA, MOCA, Hammer Museum, The Getty so I would take them there. A trip to Huntington Gardens and the Griffith Observatory would be worth a visit. I would take my friends to see a performance at REDCAT in the evening. LA has a vibrant art scene. It would be interesting to go to art gallery openings. I love going to cafes and I am partial to Okayama Kobo Bakery & Cafe in Little Tokyo so we would probably stop there.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have many people to thank who have been important in my journey as an artist. My gallerist and friend Emma Gray who has been supportive of my vision as an artist and also over the last year as I moved base from Delhi to LA. I have great mentors like Scott Benzel and Michael Ned Holte who have continued to guide my work after I graduated from CalArts. Leslie Dick, Connie Hatch and Sam Durant have been supportive over the years. I also want to thank Daniela Lieja Quintanar for including me as one of the curators for the exhibition The Feminist Art Program(1970-1975): Cycles of Collectivity at REDCAT.

Website: www.ektaaggarwal.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e.aggarwal/

Image Credits
Studio Portrait: Photograph by Fritz Horstman, The Joseph and Anni Albers Foundation

Artworks and Installation View: Photographs by Don Lewis courtesy Emma Gray HQ Gallery

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