Two Kind of a
Mumbai-based designers Pooja Malhotra and Gopika Parekh make art-inspired furniture, accented with decorative touches. By SHELLY ANAND
Art speaks a language of its own and is mostly the sum total of the colour and textures of human imagination. But when applied to interior design, in the form of accents on furniture and décor accessories, it leaves a dramatic impression and hooks onlookers with its unbeatable intensity. Almost a similar sentiment crossed my mind after having a quick look at the decorative essentials displayed at a Mumbai studio-cum-workshop in the eastern suburb, Kurla. One glance at the intriguing creations by designers Pooja Malhotra and Gopika Parekh was enough to drive home the point that the duo view art as an inspirational tool.
If their delicately carved silk and champagne leaf peacock chair flatters the feminine form, then their matte polished blue bar stool in champagne leafing and silk seat comes with a contemporary twist. If the newspaper print chaise longue in artificial leather and matte polish is one of a kind, the artistically hand-painted coffee table finished in nickel and shaped interestingly like a lotus on the other hand, celebrates the innumerable bounties of nature. That Malhotra and Parekh are functional furniture addicts and cannot live without the finer nuances of artwork when it comes to their designs is clearly visible from their hand-painted, varnished carved wood art chairs finished in duco polish, which very conveniently double up as wall frames.
The driving force behind design studio The Fuchsia Lane, the young and beaming entrepreneurs from the Rachna Sansad School of Interior Design in Mumbai share a similar design philosophy—to make stylish furniture pieces that are an extension to art and are highly utilitarian at the same time. As Malhotra