Batik Sari
Manjushree SarenSantiniketan, India, 1970s
- Materials & techniques
- Silk, batik; wax resist and dyes
- Collection
- Manjushree Saren
Object details
In this batik sari, Manjushree Saren moves beyond the Ajanta-inspired vocabulary evident in some of her earlier work, developing a more freely composed language of lotus and foliage.
The lotus is treated in a simplified, graphic manner, while the conjoined leaves and vegetal forms are reconfigured into a more fluid and contemporary pattern. Their interlocking arrangement creates a sense of continuity across the surface of the sari.
The use of acid colours gives the composition a striking visual intensity. Equally important is Saren’s use of dots as fillers: scattered across the ground and between the principal motifs, they are not merely decorative additions but become an integral component of the composition. Their repetition establishes rhythm, fills the spaces between the larger forms and helps bind the different elements into a unified field.
The sari demonstrates Saren’s continuing engagement with nature while showing her willingness to reinterpret botanical forms through the formal possibilities of batik. Here, lotus, foliage, colour and dots work together as elements of an integrated pattern, revealing a distinctively individual approach to Santiniketan textile design.
