Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Hello! I am Isha Pimpalkhare, a textile & mixed media creative. (b. 1992) Isha Pimpalkhare is a textile and mixed
Her core interests are fabric manipulation, 3D soft
media designer, who situates her practice at the
structures, textiles + kinetics, and the importance of
convergence of art and design, with a focus on
our material culture on our psyche.
creating emotive and engaging tactile environments.
Isha graduated with a Masters in Textiles (Mixed
Using the tactile and emotional qulaities that the
Media, 2017-2019), from the Royal College of Art
material has to offer, she aims to investigate the role
(RCA), London. Her time at the RCA helped her develop
materiality plays in our everyday lives, by creating
a strong identity and methodology for her practice.
heightened sensory experiences through her material practice.
Prior to this, she completed her Bachelors in Textile Design at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, India.
Contact:
https://ishapimpalkhare.com
pimpalkhare.isha@gmail.com
https://www.instagram.com/ishapimpalkhare/
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My core strengths are combining textiles + tech, exploring soft structures and fabric construction. I am also sharing some of my personal practice.
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Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Combining Textiles + Tech 4
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Project Title: Biophilic Interactions on Fabric Project Year: 2019 This project was part of my final thesis during my MA at the Royal College of Art, London. Biophilia hypothesis is based on the notion that we as humans have a genetically determined affiliation to our natural surroundings. The project investigates how this intrinsic affiliation can be brought on to a more material surface by creating lifelike movements on fabric. Concepts such as breathing, biological reciprocity and behaviours are explored through various movements on textile structures. The project combines 3D soft structures with motors to bring about kinetic movements on fabric. Here is a short reel to some of the project outcomes: https://vimeo.com/348195632
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
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Project Title: Timeless - A Kinetic Sculpture Project Year: 2019 ‘Timeless’ is a surface made up of various individual elements, which expand and contract in a rhythmic cycle. I worked with the idea of time, and its cyclic repetitive nature. Time is not just a numerical value, but is also representative of the change in state in a certain environment over a period of time. The axis of the motor to which all these forms are connected, rotates in a continuous cycle at a fixed speed, almost like the minute hand of a clock. This in turn causes different forms to shrink and bloom (contract and expand) at different points of time - displaying a constant change in state.The use of specific colours were inspired by the changing colours of the sky, which are also representative of the change in time - from day to night and night to day. This project was part of my final thesis during my MA at the Royal College of Art, London. Here is a short reel to some of the kinetic sculpture: https://vimeo.com/343917934
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
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Project Title: Kinetic Installation at a store launch (Commerical Project) Project Year: 2019 This was a kinetic wall created for the store launch of a fashion brand. The entire wall was full of blooming elements, opening and closing in different patterns and creating a collection rhythm. Here is a showreel of the project: https://vimeo. com/381522613
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Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Project Title: Amsterdam Light Festival - Submission Project Year: 2020 The Amsterdam Light Festival is a yearly light festival which takes place in Amsterdam at various site specific locations throughout the public spaces in the city. The theme for ALF 2020 was ‘When Nature Calls’. The concept proposed was a kinetic and light installation growing organically on our built environments, very much resembling our natural ecology - taking over and taking back from the human built spaces. Modular floral ‘epiphytic’ elements tessellate to grow and spread across the surface, takingover the architectural space that they o ccupy. These living, breathing floral forms integrate light and movement to symbolise the fundamental premise of co-dependence and co-existence. The entry made it to the second and final round of the competition.
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
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Exploring Soft Structures 9
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Project Title: Tactile Interactions Project Year: 2018 The following project - PLAY - is a set of soft forms that explore tactile interactive play, which could potentially be therapeutic and mood changing. The concept involves having people come and play with colourful forms made of foam and a wire skeleton, building and making abstract compositions. Having a wire skeleton helps the forms retain the shape they are bent or folded into. Working with your hands and creating something new lies at the core of this interaction. Sensors mounted on the forms pick up on the acceleration thus caused during play, and alter the light in the room, depending on the speed of the movement, which is completely controlled by the person playing.
Here is a showreel of the project: https://vimeo. com/271502075
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
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Project Title: Biophilic Interactions on Fabric Project Year: 2019 As part of my MA project, the investigation involved creating myriad three dimensional soft structures, manipulating the material into different forms, as well as an interplay of different materials and finishes. The explorations were based on the idea of creating structures which expand and collapse.
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Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Project Title: Biophilic Interactions on Fabric Project Year: 2019 While origami formed a large part of my explorations, the challenge was to also effectively transform the paper origami experiments onto different types of fabrics with varied strengths. My explorations also involved studying interactions between soft and hard structures, as also creating organic shaped forms in fabric, glass and clay.
Fabric Construction 13
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Project Title: Inspired by an Orange Project Year: 2013 This project was undertaken during my BA. The brief was to pick up a reference from nature, and create material surfaces based on the inspiration - which in my case, was the orange. The project referenced the white fibrous pith of the orange, to create different fabric surfaces with the help of different techniques such as - acid burning, etching on felt, manipulating the warp and weft of the fabric.
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Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Project Title: Inspired by an Orange Project Year: 2013 Acid burning on cotton fabric was a method I developed during this project. The method I developed was a reinterpretation of the age old devore technique of printing on fabrics. In this redefined method, I am using a 100% cotton fabric and stitching over it with polyester thread - and then eventually burning out parts of the cotton fabric. The polyester threads hold the fabric together.
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Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Product + Moodboard Development 16
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Project Title: ColourNext - An Annual Colour and Trend Forecasting Show Project Year: 2016-17 ColourNext is an annual colour forecast for the Indian design industry by Asian Paints Limited. For ColourNext 2016, the team took the presentation of the forecasted themes beyond just the storytelling and colours, by introducing extensive material palettes and decor directions.
My role as part of the project, was to identify materials which aligned with the persona of each of the four proposed themes of the year. As a textile designer, I also created certain textile/ material surfaces which lent themselves to each of the mood boards. Conclusively, I was also involved in the set up and visual layout of the moodboard at the final site of execution.
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Project Title: Product Development for Wari Watai - A Design Studio based in Bangalore, India Project Year: 2017-2020 Product development consultancy for a multidisciplinary design studio called ‘Wari Watai’. The products developed predominantly use felt as the main material, and are made for the interior and lifestyle category of products.
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Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Personal Practice
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Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Project Title: Re-imaging Devore - an age old textile technique
This is a technique I have developed over the past couple of years. The method re-looks at the age old devore technique of fabric burning to create different patterns. This new take on the technique creates a highly texturous surface by stitching polyester stitches on to a 100% cotten fabric, and then uses the devore paste to burn out parts of the textile.
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Project Title: LinkedIn Office - Commissioned Project Project Year: 2020-21 This is set of commissioned artpieces for the LinkedIn Office in India, inspired by the various terrains and landscapes of India. The technique used to create each of the pieces was the reinterpretation of devore.
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Additionally, I enjoy learning new skills, have an investigative mind, and enjoy organizational and managerial tasks. I am a coffee lover, a fitness enthusiast, and enjoy the outdoors. 22
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021
Isha Pimpalkhare
Portfolio
2021