Rhea Mehta, THE BRIGHT SIDE

Sitting in a cafe brainstorming for her final thesis project, Rhea Mehta asked herself ‘what is the one piece of furniture that can create the maximum impact in a space?’ “As I watched the evening sunset, the lights in the cafe turned on, the mood of the entire cafe shifted instantly, and so did mine. I ended up designing my first range of lights in college, and I haven’t stopped since,” says Mehta who founded Rhea Mehta Design in 2020.

Traditional Twist Mehta often finds resonance in the subcontinent’s cultural heritage. An example is Project AABH for Taj Ahmedabad. “We drew inspiration from the folds created by the ghagras of the Gujarati women while dancing to traditional Navratri music. The abhla work that is peculiar to the garment was depicted by the spherical convex mirrors, which reflect light and create unique illusions in the piece. The embroidery on the ghagra is shown by 3,50,000 intricately hand sewn crystals,” explains Mehta.

Flights of Fancy Her latest collection called The Butterfly Effect is inspired by the concept of Chaos Theory. “This is depicted using hand painted, blown glass butterflies, clustered together to create a mesmerising light installation,” she says.

Post-Pandemic Trend “The pandemic gave everyone a lot of time to introspect and linger at the design board, making it the perfect time to collaborate and move forward together,” she says.

Price on request; For more www.rhea-mehta.com

ALL THAT GLITTERS Mumbai-based designer, Rhea Mehta stands next to The Butterfly Effect light installation (left); Designed by interior designers Aamir and Hameeda Sharma for Emante, the custom-made Geometric Sky light is placed in a home in Chennai (Bottom right); Arjun Rathi with one of his blown glass creations (Top right)