Sambhar 1.0
Image to Hand Embroidery
Sambhar, Rajasthan. A quiet photowalk. A herder sat across the field with a chillum and sheeps, unposed. His silence lingered.
Sambhar Lake is India's largest inland saline wetland, a Ramsar Site, alive with flamingos and migratory birds. Once ruled by Chauhans, then the Mughals, then leased to the British, this salt basin holds layers of myth and history. The air still remembers.
The Making
First, a photograph. Then, sketch trials, embroidery samplings, the artisan sit for days, thread by thread.
Embroidery As Memory
Only time, rhythm, and thread.
Over 200 hours of handwork shaped Sambhar 1.0 into being. Traditional surface embroidery techniques guided the process. Satin stitch formed the folds of the herder’s robe, French knots textured the sheep’s coats, and long and short stitches merged the land into shadow and slope. Reed grass emerged through fine split stitch. Tree limbs thickened with bullion knots and couching. A glint of silver sits quietly in the composition, the kettle, crafted and embroidered by hand, echoing the stillness of the original moment.
No tracing, no digital pattern. Only a photograph, a drawing, and a quiet artisan sitting with thread. What you see is not just image, but memory, rendered through repetition, rhythm, and the passage of time.
The Art Shirt
The herder rests across the back. The crane floats on the chest. Six custom silver buttons adorn the front, paired with two Garlic Moon insignia buttons at the cuffs. Exclusively One. A piece made to be collected. Size: Custom, Made to Order. Only a single piece will ever be created. The photographed original remains in our private archive, it will not be offered, loaned, or sold.
If Sambhar 1.0 speaks to you, reach out.