It’s not often that your letterbox becomes a conversation starter.
Unless it has transcended beyond being a rusty red piece to something that is bursting with colour — lotus motifs, tiger stripes, a Rajasthani dude sporting a well-oiled moustache, a pretty woman, heart symbols and all. That’s the kind of stuff that Bengaluru-based self-employed artist Aarohi Singh creates. That’s not all — everything from kettles to old trunks to baltis and drab cupboards transform magically in her hands.
“Painting was one of my subjects in school. I went on to do my masters in history and worked as an information architect. I quit after the birth of my children. When I was walking through Russell Market, I came by a kettle and had the urge to paint it. My mother joked about how I would manage to convince someone to pay me money for it. I decided to paint it anyway and gift it to one of my friends. I had an exhibition of my wares in 2008. By day three, I had sold 70 per cent of my exhibits. I haven’t looked back ever since,” says Aarohi who uses acrylics for her kitschy creations.
She went on to get a web presence and a blog, that helped create a bigger buzz around her work. The themes of her creations have a special place in Aarohi’s life. “For example, I worked on a series called ‘Singh is King.’ One would assume that it is connected to the Bollywood movie. But it came from the ‘Singh is King’ t-shirts that my children wore, long before the movie was in the picture. I am half Sardarni and spent my growing up years in the north. This series stood for all that,” she says, adding, “One series was inspired by the nazar battoo. People advised me to use a nazar tikka for my daughter. I brushed it off initially, but realised that this symbolism appears in varied cultures and probably does have some significance. That’s how my nazar battoo designs were born.”
Each piece is one of a kind and Herculean effort goes into them. “I was painting a cupboard for a friend, and had to sit from 8 pm to 3 am for days,” says Aarohi who is keen on using her talent for charity. “I have donated some of my paintings to Protsahan. The proceeds from their sale will go to this NGO. I will be working as the creative consultant of an NGO in Andhra, and giving them saleable items that they can generate earnings out of.”
