Today on the blog, we feature Bangalore based, fluid-artist & Resin-crafter, Aalie Tandon; she is also the Founder of 17th Art Street by Aalie Tandon which she runs with her unofficial integral Co-Founder, Devanshu Dugar.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I hail from the quaint town of Lucknow and I have a Textile & Fashion background with a Degree in Textile Design from NIFT and a Masters in Apparel Design from NID.
I am extremely fascinated by stories both real and imaginary. Often, I get so engrossed while reading or watching them that it is almost as if I am living that story for real. I am quite a nerd when it comes to a skill or a process based anything in general that spikes my interest and until I find my answers, or just get that curvature right to my liking, I cannot be rested. Sophisticated rawness in the nature is what inspires me. I feel the brilliantly executed authenticity and richness in the raw nature around us, is something that is replete with endless possibilities. It is quite likely, that because of this very reason; though it might sound unheard of; I almost never run out of inspirations. In fact, very often; practically all the time; I find my mind overflowing with so many inspirations that I literally have to lucky-draw one, to get started ‘unbiasedly’, since all of those are so so creatively compelling, and for me, this is the real challenge. Eclectic interpretations whilst combining natural bits with man-made ones, coalesced through extensive amounts of detailing, colour, texture and material mixing, is something that marks my signature style.
My unofficial integral partner, Devanshu, who also happens to be my much better half, and the vital support system for 17th Art Street; is the one who essentially takes care of everything else that is quite crucial to enable me be the Maker. Managing a full time job that majorly supports us, to helping me in all the paper and technical stuff, be it our website, taxes or even regular chores, he is the engine that keeps 17th Art Street running. He also happens to be a very finicky critic and even though this might make me cringe at times, but it surely has contributed significantly towards constant improvisation in my art practice.
Why did you become a maker?
I have always been a maker, right from my formative years, when I was literally crafting all kinds of makings, aka modern day DIY, right from simple water colour paintings to sand crafting, clay modelling, jewellery making, flower making, embroidery, etc etc all the way through my professional education, where I acquired a more sophisticated, industry-standard crafting & making know-how. So making and crafting with my hands is something that comes quite naturally to me. In fact making something by myself, on most occasions, happens to be the first and the most dependable options that I rely on, rather prefer. For something as simple as wrapping a present, even if there is enough time for me to get it wrapped from the store, I still prefer doing it by myself, adding a few personal touches here & there.
Why is making so important to you?
Sometime back, when life happened, it happened like an unpredictable thunder strike, catching me and people close to me, completely off-guard. It was as if my entire philosophy of life, up until then, professional as well as personal, was thrown off the window. I was in a state of seemingly endless rut for quite a while and it took every ounce of my will-power to try and rebound and more importantly, to re-invent myself. That was a time when, if it wouldn’t even be the last thing to go wrong, it still and surely would. In such a trying time, the only one I could rely on to pull me out was my-own-self and, the only things that I could think of doing to get myself back on my feet, were those, that I could majorly do all by myself with as minimal reliance on anyone else as possible. That is when my childhood passion for ‘making art’ re-surfaced and it wouldn’t be even the slightest exaggeration, to say that it was then indeed, that I truly re-discovered myself by way of self-teaching and “Making” Fluid-art. That truly was my ‘renaissance’ moment, the one that reinstated my self confidence, that I have always had ever since I was a kid, but, that had gone missing in that span of, as I like to call it, ‘The Dark Times’, with no pun intended.
“Making” by way of self teaching; since I am not an artist with a professional training in art per-say; is what has given my life a new meaning, more aptly, a new beginning. Since, within me, all that while, was a literal cacophony of emotions and expressions, making Fluid-art, better known as paint-pouring; as the name suggests, literally gave a vent to let those pour over and spill through, which was a much needed respite. Perhaps because I know how it felt, when at a personal front nothing seemed to be going as per ‘my’ plan, there is a rather magnified abstract sense of ‘vibe manifestation’, I have come to consciously believe in, and that perhaps is why I also like to incorporate healing crystals in most of my artworks to resonate therapeutic energies.
How did you begin & how has your business evolved over the years ?
In conjunction to what I talked about why making is so important to me; even though, the very idea behind starting ‘making’ by myself was to regain my lost footing and to re-invent myself; it did take a little while for the manifestation to seep in, that I was headed towards having a Brand baby of my own, because, having one, was never a part of ‘my’ plan. Looking back and mapping out, how it all happened and what all led us; I and my husband; up till here, it seems it might haven’t been in my plan, but it surely was a part of the nature’s plan.
Ever since it started, which is about almost 15 months back, “17th Art Street” has been a conscious effort to be as fulfilling and as expressive to its maker as to its audience. Offering one of a kind eclectic abstract art creations comprising wall-arts, accessories & decor; creations from the atelier, 17th Art Street, have John Keats’ philosophy “A Thing of Beauty, is Joy Forever” as their underlying essence. The creations aim to embark on happiness and an enchanted sense of fulfillment whenever gazed upon by their collector.
As a very young brand, still in the making, though we are yet quite afar from hitting that ‘successful professional artist’ mark; from where and how we started, to the few baby steps that we have taken till today, the road is way ahead, but, fingers crossed, faith in our hearts and a driving passion for creating unique expressive art; we hope to accomplish our endeavor of running a fulfilling small art business, spreading happiness and fulfillment around us, staying true to our art philosophy.
Story behind your Brand Name – 17th Art Street
Well, in “17th Art Street”, ‘ART STREET’ component was given by my ‘strictly unofficial’ integral partner, my husband, and ‘17th’ was prefixed by me.
January 17th is the date we tied the knot, and ever since ’17th Art Street’s’ inception, it was a given, that this would be an endeavor very close to both of us and would call for several sacrifices on both our parts to nurture it, as we were a young couple still striving to find our footing. That was the reason for adding in this date that has a special significance for both of us. As for ‘Art Street’, ‘Art’ was very obvious to be added in because that is what I was making and ‘Street’ essentially is something to signify our future trail for diversification in terms of extending the abstract fluid essence of this art form to regional Indian crafts that traditionally were sold on Indian streets before they found shelves in curated art and handicraft shops, both here in India as well as abroad.
Your Workspace.
I operate out of my home studio at the moment. It is essentially a spare room that has my work tables, one of which is a small coffee table and the other is a slightly bigger one, built in cupboards, a steel rack with several of my supplies, a window with a few potted greens and the floor, that is forever strewn with supplies etc. that are being used for the ongoing project. When I started, it seemed the room would be enough as a studio, space wise, but a little over a year into this, and I have already outgrown of the space. Since fluid-art and especially resin based fluid art is quite space thirsty and can get real messy owing to its fluid and sticky nature, coupled with the fact that the essential post processes like sanding, drilling, drip cleanups and polishing/doming using power tools; particularly while making accessories; also gets done in the same space, my studio is almost constantly in a state of needing tidying up.
The real challenge with performing all these processes in the same place; since that much is all that I have for now; is shielding the projects from dust and debris that can settle on the top layer and compromise the finish whilst they are in curing stages. For accomplishing this, the wet projects have to be carefully covered very securely till they cure enough and this has to be repeated for each and every layer. Since there has to be a minimum gap of 10-14 hours in between subsequent layers depending on the climate, it is an intensive process, that at an average spans over about 12-19 days for my wall-arts. Resin is quite sensitive to ambient temperature, especially while curing and doesn’t respond very well to temperature fluctuations during those 14-16 hours. In Bangalore weather since it is almost impossible to control it completely, the most satisfactory results that I have been able to achieve so far, have been by switching off the fan, shutting off the windows and room door when leaving the works covered for curing to try and maintain as much homeostasis as possible.
For this reason, though it is quite an aspiration for me, I hope to be able to afford a dedicated studio with designated spaces for each of these processes one day.
Favourite work tool.
This is almost an impossible one, because all the tools and equipment right from the extremely simple ones like paint mixing cups, popsicle sticks, gloves, mask, paper towel, tapes, plastic drop sheets etc to more complex ones like weighing balance, heat-gun, flame-torch and power-drill, all are absolute essentials for my craft and even in the absence of any one of these, I would not be able to function. So there isn’t much room for me to pick a favourite amongst these necessities 🙂
Currently on the work table.
On my smaller table, is a line up of pieces right from accessories to decor that need a final sealer resin coat for BHFTH exhibit, and my bigger table has a peacock inspired, geode-style ornate jigsaw art piece with about 750 gms of real semi precious crystals, which is yet to be completed, that alternates between my Holiday ornament casting trays at the moment.
Personal favourite from your creations.
This never fails to sound like a cliche, but this indeed is like picking a favourite amongst your own children, all of whom you created 🙂 The very first beach inspired art that I poured, has been the one that has been a classic favourite of ours and the audience alike, which also recently made for a wedding present by the bride for her husband and had an interesting story behind it.
That is the one that we picked for our business card as well, when we were printing those for the very first time for our very first showcase outside the virtual world. So, even though I feel each new work that I create becomes my favourite until the subsequent one takes its place, we can still consider “By The Shore..” as one of my classic favourites.
What are you displaying at the By Hand from the Heart Makers Market?
I am exhibiting a few handpicked selections from my signature mixed-media wall-art archives and the popular small beach and ocean inspired original art works that make for choicest picks for gifting and my accessory collections, few of which have been especially made for the BHFTH exhibit. I am also showcasing my limited edition ‘Flower & Spice’ necklace collection, and additionally, a few ‘season specials’ from my Holiday and festive exclusives. This being our very first time ever in Chennai, we are really excited for the showcase.
Meet the Maker @
27th edition: By Hand From The Heart Makers Market
2 – 3 – August 2019 , Friday – Saturday | 10 a.m – 9 p.m
Hanu Reddy Residences, No. 41/19, Poes Garden, Chennai 600086, India.
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By Hand from the Heart 