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Behind Rural Modern Glass Studio's lighting collection, Vanaspati and Wishing Tree
The question that architect and lighting designer Arjun Rathi got asked the most at the recent Salone del Mobile was: 'Are you Indians manufacturing in Murano?' It was the first time that Indian blown glass was exhibited at the renowned Milan design week. Now, the two limited edition collections — Vanaspati and Wishing Tree — are back in India, and on display at Rathi's Rural Modern Glass Studio in Mumbai and at their lighting gallery at Eros Theatre.
'The Vanaspati collection is inspired by endangered species of flora and fauna from Indian forests,' says Rathi, who collaborated with artist Tejas Thackeray and the Thackeray Wildlife Foundation. 'We have pitcher plants [endangered in the Northeast because of ecosystem decimation], several kinds of wild flowers, and sweet lilies that are found in the eastern forests. Glass frogs and tiny metal creatures such as gold plated beetles, wasps, and bees, cast by an artist from Jaipur, have also been fused onto the lights.'
The Wishing Tree collection, on the other hand, looks to the banyan tree — and the wishes that people make as they walk around it in temples across the length and breadth of the country. 'All the textures were created by taking real banyan roots and burning them into the glass,' shares the designer.
The two collections mark the studio's first attempt at mixing two faculties of glass: flameworking (shaping glass using a torch to melt the material) and blown glass. 'We are also experimenting with so many colours for the first time, from reds and pinks to blues, greens and yellows. Compatibility is a big challenge in glass making,' Rathi adds.
With 15 editions of each design, the collection is priced between ₹3.5 lakh and ₹12 lakh.
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