The two-storey house is located in a typically quiet and thin lane of extended South Kolkata. The main door opens into a huge hall, and a flight of stairs leads to a first-floor room with large windows. As the sunshine streaming through the windows plays on her short hair, a woman in a pair of denim and a T-shirt sits on the corner of the bed, bent over her embroidery hoop, under the watchful eye of a beautiful tuxedo cat named Tolstoy. Her nimble fingers work with an assortment of threads and fine needles on a piece of fabric, creating a perfect composition in this picture-perfect setting. 

“I had started this and forgotten about it,” said Sunetra Lahiri, pointing to the neat stitches almost apologetically. “But I took it up again a couple of days ago, and I can’t rest till I finish it now.”

The colours are an unusual combination of light brown, blue, and sea green, and the design is a unique combination of Mandala and paisleys that you cannot help but keep gaping at. She has this exceptional ability to turn the mundane into exquisite; that is why the National Award for Design Innovation came her way in 2022. “I got the award with my artisan Gobinda Bar. This is the first time an artisan and a designer got the National Award together in the Aari and Zardozi categories,” said Sunetra. 

Their creation, Kalpavriksha: The Tree of Life, embroidered on a handwoven tussar that fetched them the National Award, is a matchless piece of art that took Sunetra three months to complete and two-and-a-half months to finish on the frame. Since the designer believes craft has no boundaries, this work showcases motifs from world textiles as well as recognizable motifs from various world cultures and is part of her Textiles Sans Frontièreseries.

Sunetra is an alumna of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Chennai. She keeps working on her embroidery as she talks, not mincing her words. “This award is indicative and an encouragement. It is necessary to be passionate, focused and honest about what you are doing; the rest follows. The work and the journey are important. It should be something that makes you happy.”

After spending 12–13 hours a day hunched over with the needle, she often has to deal with back and finger aches, but the artist is so unwaveringly ardent about her work that her physical discomfiture hardly comes in the way. Sunetra started her career working in an export house as a merchandiser-designer in Chennai. After freelancing as a designer and consultant for many other companies, it was Sabyasachi Mukherjee, her batchmate and friend, who advised her to launch her own label.

“I took a leap of faith and started my own label in 2004. I learned on my feet about Indian fashion because, at that point in time, the NIFT syllabus was based on Western fashion. I had to understand the psyche of the female clientele and the design philosophy that drives the market. I dabbled in a variety of crafts and developed a loyal following. There were 150 artisans working with me. We were like one big family.”

But after retailing for almost 15 years at the top design stores in the country, Sunetra was deeply unhappy and bored. She wanted a bigger canvas to create something phenomenal, something truly extraordinary with an enduring legacy.

“In 2019, I took a sabbatical from my work, and when I came back to it, there had been a paradigm shift in my thought process. My knowledge of embroidery began in school and the course work I did at NIFT as well as my years as a designer.”

The pandemic changed her perspective completely. During lockdown, Sunetra suddenly found she had a lot of time on her hands and took up Kantha casually, teaching herself the intricacies from books and photographs of Nakshi Kantha pieces in the Gurusaday Museum. But it soon became a meditative process and a whole new idea started taking shape. She continued to work through the lockdown with her team of artisans to take forward her vision. When she finally showcased her work at the exhibition titled Elemental at the Kolkata Creativity Centre over two days in August 2022, hundreds of people turned up to witness what the city had never seen before.

“I chose the title Elemental for my creations because we are all made up of 5 elements: air, water, fire, earth and space. Harking back to nature and the elements, from which we come and into which we dissolve, I find our ecosystem intriguing. I find poetry in schools of fish, in corals, in fallen leaves, in animals, in stones, and in the moss on trees. I am inspired by my terrace garden, which I nurture with a lot of love.”

There were 75 art works on display; the pieces varied in size from a mere 5″ x 5″ to 10 feet. In those two days, the gallery was constantly abuzz with people marvelling at her creations. The largest piece in the collection was Chlorophyll, which explores deforestation, the extinction of species and global warming. Embroidered on sheer silk organza, one is bound to stand in awe at the concept and its execution. The Matryoshka Fish, inspired by Russian Matryoshka dolls, Antiquity, bringing together motifs and figures from 10 civilizations as well as ancient cave paintings as a homage to unknown artists and artisans whose legacy continues to enrich us, Mātsya-yan, a Nakshi Kantha wall panel inspired by Vishnu’s Mātsya Avatar, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which brings forth the beauty of coral reefs, and the brilliant colour palette of the fish in the Deep Dive series, were some of her spectacular works that became the talking point at the show.

When an idea comes to her, she usually sits with a pencil and paper first. Then it could take her months to draw what she conceives in her mind. A composition that follows the Golden Ratio and has rhythm, creating a visual symmetry is important.

 “There is a lot of skill and technique involved in the work we do. For instance, a simple running stitch can be like music notes. Knowing a particular stitch but not knowing how to apply it would be disastrous. To create art through embroidery, we have to understand the craft, which is fundamentally rooted in tradition and goes beyond. In other words, it has to touch the right chords to create the perfect symphony.”

 The designer explains that since the embroidery techniques used are of many types, application is the key. Although most of her artisans are very talented—some of them have worked with her for 17-18 years — there are none who can handle all the fundamentals, starting from drawing to colour co-ordination to deciding on the type of technique to be used to create an art piece, as each one is a single-edition exclusive piece and has to be handled differently every time. There is no repetition. It’s a full-time engagement, albeit pleasurable, and Sunetra spends hours in her workshop overseeing every inch of it.

“Zardozi is basically doing embroidery with No. 10 to No. 12 fine-hand sewing needles. One can use French knot, satin stitch, as well as various techniques for sprangle work. In fact, Chikankari is nothing if not Zardozi and we have been using a lot of Chikankari elements in our work, like Murri, Hool, Daarhi Phanda, Hathkati, Pechni and Kaaj. Aari work is done with a thin crochet-like needle with a hooked tip that is filed to match the artisan’s needs. It’s a difficult craft, taking years of work to master to a high standard.”

 Sunetra feels that a lot of young people are doing innovative work, some have even made a worldwide name, but there is a tendency to copy and paste as soon as you see someone’s work has gained recognition or is regarded as of high value.

 “We have extremely talented artisans in Bengal, but the young generation is not taking up the craft and they prefer to take up menial jobs outside Bengal. There are a multitude of factors contributing to this. But the primary one is economical. We need to create a healthy work environment where they are not just invisible faces behind big labels. We need them and they need us. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Economics, a safe work environment, recognition and health benefits are key to our craftspeople taking pride in their skills and continuing to thrive.”

That’s where the aspect of marketing comes in. “We have no real savoir-faire when it comes to presentation, marketing, or networking. Our art has to be either utilitarian or market-driven, or totally stunning for people to buy it. We need to reach out to a wider audience on different platforms to make them aware of the kind of work we are doing.”

 The second floor of Sunetra’s house has a studio and her terrace garden. In one room, some of the large art pieces are displayed which she showcases with pride. “I started delving into the history of life on earth, which inevitably started in water. That gave birth to my Deep Dive series and my piece 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea named after Jules Verne’s book, is an expression of the awe I have for life underwater. It took months to make. I wanted it to look as stunning as it is in reality. This fascination with the underwater world started when, as a child, I used to watch the shows of French diver Jacques Cousteau. Later in life, I went snorkelling and realized how beautiful it was down there. Starting with the background, the kinds of fish, the various kinds of corals and polyps, create perspective and depth. I did a lot of research before doing this piece. My artisans share the same passion for creating these unique pieces of art. It’s actually a deep dive into a creative ocean,” she says with a smile.

The second room is used as a workshop, where clothes are stitched and the art pieces are finished. Although Sunetra folded up her label, many of her loyal clients remained and she still runs her workshop for them, as well as when she wants to pattern a silhouette.

“I think full sustainability in our work is not possible but we try to keep waste to the minimum and try to use natural dyed fabric and embroidery yarn wherever possible. We only use natural fabrics as our base.”

She wants to think beyond her own art and create something more. “The young generation has to understand the potential of practising the crafts that their earlier generations have excelled in. They have a rich legacy waiting for them. It will come naturally. They have to realise that relinquishing it will take them nowhere. If they can pursue it seriously, they can create wonders. That is why my ultimate goal is to build a craft commune for artisans where they would learn how to upgrade their skills through design intervention, exposure to other crafts and cultures, and presentation.”

Currently, the National Award-winning designer is preparing for her next showcase. “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is another day. There are new challenges, new ideas and a whole world waiting to be explored,” she says.

Her workshop is a short walk from her home and Elemental 2.0 is taking shape there. The artisans are engrossed in their work at the workshop. “For Elemental 2.0, I am working more on the human factor. The themes of common craft DNAs, existential issues, and environmental issues remain. This time I want to explore other media, which may not be embroidery.” She doesn’t want to elaborate more since she wants to keep the surprise element intact.

Apart from preparing for her next show, Sunetra has also been doing some interesting commissioned work. Notable among these is a depiction of National Award-winning singer-composer Anupam Roy’s song Kanchenjungha from his recent album Adrishyo Nagordolar Trip. Another was An Afternoon in Munnar, where she has never been, for a friend. It took her a year to do it, but she loves taking on challenges like these because they are so gratifying.

 “We have been selected to present one of our works in the 3^rd edition of Sutr Santati at NGMA, Mumbai, later this year. It is being curated by Ms Lavina Baldota,” she informs.

As Sunetra started explaining the colour scheme to her artisan, Ganesh Gyne, I left thinking about the artistic splendour that would be on show at Elemental 2.0 scheduled for next year.  

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