Tell us about your practice and how you came to making?

We’re both enamored with design for different reasons… For Aditya, it's history.  For me, it’s the craft.  We balance each other quite well and are continuously putting together the story we want to tell.  

Do you have a ritual when it comes to making/designing work?

So far the design process has been really unique to this project.  We do most of the designing while in India, but it comes together slowly as we sample the materials and processes involved in each piece. It's difficult to wrap your head around the work stylistically when in one county or another because the sensory input is so vastly different when designing in either space.  The biggest challenge has been coming up with a design language that reaches internationally.  I’ve been working with Rakesh Suthar, a Rajasthani born and Bali based designer to assist with the language and production alongside Aditya.  It’s amazing to have a collaborative team come together and invest so much into the design process until we get it right.  We have many late night phone calls between the USA, India and Indonesia to get everything sampled and finalized.  We try to give ourselves ample time to really explore the materials and processes so the designing isn’t rushed.  At least that’s what we are aiming for!

What’s the story behind how you started working together? 

Aditya and I have been longtime friends and worked together briefly in 2017 in India.  Since then we’ve always had the dream of getting the chance to work together.  About a year ago, we were finally able to give it a shot.  I have a background in fabrication, production and design, Aditya has been developing relationships with local vendors in India for the past decade working in production and business management.  It seemed a perfect fit for us to create a partnership between New York City and Rajasthan in India as ornament and handwork is coming back as a highlight in contemporary design.

Tell us about how working with local communities and artisans in India play a role in how your work develops.

Our work is very minimal so that the handword in each piece can really be the highlight.  Aditya works with specific vendors so we have set that as the main parameter for our work. It is really hard to choose just one method to stick with per collection since there is so much versatility in Indian craft.  So far we’ve been working in wood and embossed metal, but our next collection is introducing hand carved stone and hand etched metal.

Your work has a varied, delicate detailing style, what informs the motifs and patterns you choose?

For some of the patterns we are working with our vendors directly. Our Z table, for example, is using a die hand carved by a local artisan- he has made hundreds of dies with different patterns that are used by metal cladders all over Udaipur.  For other things, it takes a lot of research.  Pattern and 2D work is new to me so it’s been the most difficult part of the design process so far.

What sort of imagery do you reference when looking for and finding these patterns? Is there some scheme that plays into each choice? Or an overarching theme?

There isn’t really. We ended up with a lot of florals in the first collection, but that makes sense as Udaipur is covered in beautiful flowers year round.  Flowers are also a common motif all over India so they kept coming up.  It just seemed ubiquitous so we started there.

You work in a variety of mediums, how do you come about choosing the correct material for each piece?

We try to keep our material variety small for the sake of efficient production.  We had the material constraints to begin with, so we really spent a ton of time looking around Udaipur and talking with vendors about what we could do with it.  We work with reclaimed teak that is taken from old buildings that are condemned.  It has a really cool history and is far more sustainable than using new lumber.  We also use thin embossed metal- its all over Rajasthan and really unique.  I haven’t seen that process in many places, especially in the contemporary market, so we really wanted to include it in a few pieces as well.

What’s next for you? 

We’re currently sampling our next collection. We spent 3 weeks traveling around India this monsoon season looking for inspiration and had a bit of an adventure.  We were really inspired by the red stone and white sand dunes outside of Leh in Ladakh.  It was another world.  We’re really excited to get the next collection going, and we’re also partnering with a textile store in Udaipur to provide custom upholstery or tapestries for clients.  We are of course just starting out and hoping to share our story, adventures and new work in the coming months.