I create a lot of my art through my phone. The immediacy that technology allows fits perfectly with the way I create – when I see something, I need to capture and work on it right away, I can’t wait till later. I’ll see something in my initial photos that needs to be drawn out, either a texture, quality or story.  I love that I can manage creating that vision wherever I am.

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Above, Inspiration boards: I’m inspired by how other artists and designers work and live and their design influences. I gravitate towards graphic, repetitive  lines and bold colour combinations.

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My mind thinks in layers, a very organic process and not calculated, a lot of times I’m working on something and I don’t know where it’s going until I’m at the end. That’s not to say there is no method, I do feel a constant need of balance and proportion with mood, fascinating texture or colour. What’s implicit in my creative process is the focus on finding that little hidden gem or secret in each image,  waiting to be drawn out. The process feels like an insight into a parallel and alternate reality.

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Above, Great Expectations Series – I created this as a homage to my grandmother when she passed a way. This is what I think the afterlife looks like, a lot like the garden from the book. A combined image of the original photo and final result.

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Above, Drunken Romeo – had a strong desire to exaggerate the lines and balconies to create a sense of uneasiness and movement. A combined image of the original photo and final result.

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My main design influence and inspiration is Japan. I have such respect for the Japanese as a culture and am moved by how incredibly fine tuned their design sensibilities are. Their sense of beauty, balance and proportions as seen in their use of prints and Kimono fabrics is unparalleled.  Maikos & Geisha’s from the Edo period…also, the feel of retouched photographs from that time that have become so popular now. I find their subtle use of colour and graphic forms and layering very exciting.

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Above, Scarf: Digital print on silk, Furoshiki style wrap

 

Creating via a digital medium is subject to the same critique as others, yet somehow the recent proliferation of  digital prints has made it hard for the general public to understand its depth. For me, it’s not very different from traditional paper collages and I approach it in the same way, yet I have the flexibility to re-size, blend, repeat and re-colour things immediately, satiating my urgent need to create. The popularization of digitally printed textiles has unfortunately given people the license to mindlessly print poorly executed design onto fabric and consider it complete, which is how some of the high street brands operate. It frustrates me not only because it’s bad design, but ends up devaluing those of us who create mindfully.

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Bindu Reddy is the Founder of Binsubu