The Open Studio / Shruti
Shruti
Besan ka pack
A face pack drying, held forever in coils of yellow wool
Yellow wool curls over the cheeks like wet gram flour drying.
Two dark eyes look out through the gaps.
A red mouth waits under one last loop.
Hands press the face, pink going to violet.
Turquoise lace stands up around her like a frill of small waves.
A paper flower sits in her hair and holds the light.
The work
In Besan ka pack, a face looks out from under a gram flour face pack. Shruti, of the College of Art in New Delhi, makes the pack from coils of yellow wool laid over oil paint. Turquoise lace frames the head. Her work always begins with a rough sketch and a layout. Then she tries different media and goes with the flow. She starts with a purple underpainting. She leaves parts of it showing so that it glows.
In the artist’s words
“I always start with a rough idea, layout and base sketch. These are small cut-out pieces I did before starting a big canvas. Whenever I see texture I love to replicate it using thick impasto strokes. I always start with a purple underpainting because it gives a nice glowing effect and I intentionally leave it showing so that it glows.”
- Theme
- A home beauty ritual
- Material
- Mixed media: wool, lace, paper and oil on canvas
- Size
- 14.8 × 21 × 0.1 cm
- Year
- 2026
- Edition
- 1of 5
- Framed
- No
- About the artist
- College of Art
- From
- New Delhi
- Code
- RC-277
