Sayan Chanda

Name: Sayan Chanda

Studio location: London, UK

Website / social links: sayanchanda.com, @sayanchanda

Loom type or tool preference: 8 shaft Ashford loom, indigenous pit looms of Bengal, India

Years weaving: 3 years full-time

Fiber inclination: Hand-spun cotton, hand-spun wild silks, linen

Current favorite weaving book: I usually don’t get to read technical books on weaving since my woven structures are never complicated, but I do read a lot about woven textiles and craft in the context of its community. One such book would be Saris of India: Tradition and Beyond by Rta Kapur Chishti. Right now I am reading Lo-TEK, Design by Radical Indigenism by Julia Watson. It’s not a weaving book, but a great read about indigenous wisdom and design.

 

1. How did you discover weaving and was what your greatest resource as a beginner?

Growing up in Kolkata, surrounded by the starched wispy muslin Jamdani (a traditional supplementary weft weaving) saris and dhotis, I always had an inclination towards textiles. Hence, gravitating towards weaving in design school was a natural progression for me. At design school my greatest resource was my professor Aditi Ranjan and her sensitively detailed stories of her own experiences with crafts and traditions. Her book Handmade in India is a great introduction to Indian craft traditions.

2. How do you define your practice – do you consider yourself an artist / craftsperson / weaver / designer / general creative or a combination of those? Is this definition important to you?

I consider myself an artist and a textile practitioner. I won’t solely call myself a weaver, since I paint, stitch, embroider as well. I began my career as a textile designer, working closely with weavers, spinners, dyers in remote handloom clusters of India. Three years ago, I started working towards my independent studio practice. We all hear about the prejudices around fibre art and I didn’t quite know what to make of it till I faced it myself. So, I would consider the definition important to me.

3. Describe your first experience with weaving.

Textiles have been an integral part of growing up as a Bengali in Kolkata. When I was in school, every summer I would visit my Aunt in a small town near Kolkata. I still remember walking down narrow mud lanes, past rows of thatched huts, hearing the rhythmic beating of the traditional pit looms and wondering what they might be! Things came full circle when I spun my first few metres of yarn on a drop spindle and wove my first cotton Khadi piece in the weaving studio at the National Institute of Design, India. To be honest, I was intimidated and slightly deterred by the complex structures and calculations and knew from the very beginning that I wanted to base my practice on the plain weave.

4. What is your creative process, from the initial idea to the finished piece? Are there specific weave structures, looms, or fibers that are important to your process?

My work usually starts with a concept, thought or an idea. I use my sketchbooks and my loom to record ideas spontaneously, which eventually lead to the final piece. I have detailed my process in the next answer. I use plain weave extensively, as I think it's one of the most versatile structures. Being the most basic weave structure, it fits with the philosophy and greater aim of my practice. For patterning I use Jamdani, a discontinuous supplementary weft technique indigenous to Bangladesh and India, where warp threads are picked manually. I have always gravitated towards natural fibres. The 2/40s, 40s and 60s cotton yarns hand-spun by the women artisans of WomenWeave, an organization in Central India, are my staples. The natural colour, the impurities, the texture makes them an absolute joy to work with. Hand-spun coarse wild silks from East and North East India are my other favourites.

5. Does your work have a conceptual purpose or greater meaning? If so, do you center your making around these concepts?

I think, in many ways, the conceptual purpose is at the forefront of my practice. I usually explore apparently disparate ideas and integrate them into my work. I reference indigenous material culture, hyperlocal customs, vernacular practices, votive objects, etc. My woven pieces are an ongoing exercise exploring meditative repetitive systems in such rituals. Even though the pieces might look precise and calculated, I don't always plan and weave. Instead, I look into my own experiences of ritualistic processes and relate them to the technique, in this case, weaving, and interpret it using material, space and form. While documenting Masland, a very fine woven reed mat from Bengal, I would often notice how the weavers would never want to pause weaving at an odd pick but would always pause, when needed, at an even pick. I am drawn to such obscure details and formulate my own systems based on such practices.

6. What is your favorite part of the weaving process and why? What’s your least favorite?

I think loosening the front beam to reveal the finished piece is the most satisfying part for me. However, cutting the finished piece from the warp always makes me anxious. But my least favourite part of weaving has to be unweaving, if there’s a mistake.

7. Do you sell your work or make a living from weaving? If so, what does that look like and how has that affected your studio practice?

I am open to it and have managed to sell a few pieces, though I have not made any active efforts to sell my work. I am not fond of this aspect of making but also understand it’s necessary. Hopefully I will be able to figure this out soon.

8. Where do you find inspiration?

During my visits to craft clusters, the stories, legends, rituals surrounding the practice and its makers always intrigued me. These practices might or might not be directly related to the craft itself. From the practice of worshipping indigo vats to an-iconic representation of local deities to a sect in deep mangrove forests of Bengal which defies religious compartmentalization, such anecdotes have always been significant for me. Similarly, votive objects and related hyperlocal customs have always intrigued me. The narrative quality and anthropological clues embedded in such objects and customs are potent references for me.

9. What other creatives do you admire – weavers, artists, entrepreneurs – and why?

I am drawn towards brave, evocative, often seemingly unmodern and deeply personal work that defies trends, and stays relevant for a very long time. I find it interesting when artists draw from unpopular or obscure references. I am influenced by the work of folk and outsider artists. Observing artisans at work or locals performing rituals have left lasting impressions on me. I look up to artists like Mrinalini Mukherjee, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Lenore Tawney, Judith Scott, Agnes Martin, Lynda Benglis, El Anatsui, among many others. But I have definitely learnt the most from the weavers I have worked with across India. Their intuitiveness with materials and techniques and their symbiotic relationship to craft is something I deeply admire.

10. If you could no longer weave, what would you do instead?

Probably embroider and paint.

Do you have any upcoming exhibits, talks, or events the community should know about?

I am looking forward to an upcoming artist residency in Senegal through the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. It was meant to happen this year but like everything else the pandemic has pushed it to 2021.