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Artist statement
I first learned embroidery and sewing from my grandmother and I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have some project or other on the go. Aged 18, I went to Germany and spent four fascinating years studying at Regensburg University in Bavaria. There, I discovered European antique and art textiles and attended various courses on the history of textile, as well as practical embroidery classes. It was also the time when I first came across patchwork and was fascinated by the universality of the medium — there are traditions of patchwork and quilting all around the world, including India — and the variety of patterns it could produce.
In the late eighties, as I was running my own publishing company, I began producing one-off pieces — mostly wallhangings, framed pictures and occasional cushions. These pieces often combine modern patchwork with hand and machine embroidery, mixing Indian and European techniques. When I do use patchwork it is as a canvas on which to project my embroidery. I especially like crazy patchwork as it enables me to bring texture into the working surface by carefully selecting fabrics of different weights and finish — fine silks juxtaposed with woollen materials, velvets, cottons, heavy silks and linen. Before embarking on a large piece, I always spend a considerable time deciding on a theme, a colour scheme, and in preparing my ‘palette’, i.e. selecting all my fabrics. Some come from many years hoarding, others are bought or hand-dyed. I also frequently incorporate bits of antique fabrics, lace etc. I then make up the blocks, pinning the pieces on each like fish scales, until I am happy with each particular block and then making sure they work with each other. This entails the careful balancing of light and dark as a means to explore the potentials of shape, colour and texture. I then embark upon the embroidery, working on the machine first, and then encrusting the surface by hand. I use a lot of shisha (mirror) work and kantha quilting marrying them up with European techniques.The fragmented surface created by the crazy patchwork is treated like cloisonné enamel, each little field being filled with stitchery and ornamentation, while still keeping an eye to the composition as a whole. Finally, the beading and found objects are applied. I use a lot of old buttons, scarabs, feathers, antique beads, semi-precious stones etc. The piece is then assembled and quilted if required by the design. The quilting, which I use sparingly, around the blocks and on the borders, fills the practical function of holding the layers together, but is yet another way of trapping light and creating texture. At the end of 1998 I decided to take a proper break from my business and I gave myself a sabbatical during the best part of 1999. This enabled me to produce a body of work destined to form the core of an exhibition which took place in London in spring 2001, at the Quakers’ Gallery in St Martin’s Lane. This exhibition was shared with the well known mosaicist — Elaine M. Goodwin — whose work features in several international collections. Munni Srivastava London, summer 2001
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I undoubtedly owe my love of embroidery and fabrics to my Indian background. As long
as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the variety inventiveness, the richness of texture and colour of Indian textiles of all kinds. As a small child I would watch my mother getting ready for an evening out or a grand wedding, draping a sumptuous Banaras gold brocade sari which fell in heavy sculptural folds. An entire district of the old City of Banaras was occupied by handloom weavers. Narrow, poorly lit rooms were filled with the incessant clackety-clac sound of the looms. I’d stand for hours watching the weaver at work and the intricate glowing patterns slowly forming under his hands. It seemed pure magic! On trips to
Lucknow, we’d always pay a visit to some Muslim artisan, who produced the beautiful chikan embroidery — a type of white work done on diaphanous muslin — which is typical of the city. I was so anxious to grow up and get to wear these beautiful things and use them in my home.
I came to Britain in 1967 and married. As I started a career in publishing, embroidery had to
remain a much-loved hobby for a while. In 1976 I took a year off in India to brush up on
Indian embroidery in a more formal way.