Maps of common threads
- Archana's textile works are rooted in her map collections
- The antique fabrics she uses are sourced in France and India
- Each of her pieces can take several weeks to complete
Archana Pathak explores identity, memory and belonging through stitch and cloth. "My upbringing was shaped by transience and movement, as my father was in the Indian Air Force," she says. Archana is trained in apparel and textiles at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and later in sustainable textile design at Chelsea College of Arts. "I work primarily with memory artefacts, including vintage maps, letters and photographs," she explains. Based at Cockpit Studios, Bloomsbury, Archana transforms maps into emotional geographies through layering and assembly. In 2023, she received The Needlemakers' Award, and her work is exhibited in public and private collections internationally.
Interview
- What does place signify to you?
- When I first started working with maps, I was making sense of belonging to two places. I was trying to find home in the UK after moving from India. Identity is transient, informed by movement, motherhood and huge shifts that affect who a person is. I explore place for its multiplicity.
- What is characteristic of your practice?
- I scan the maps I collect, print them on heat-transfer paper, then use a domestic iron to transfer the image onto linens and cottons. I combine this with thin strips of fabric which I hand cut and stitch. Most stitched lines are not planned: I draw one, then follow it.
- Do you aim to evoke a specific feeling through your work?
- While making, I do not think about how the work will be received. I build landscapes intuitively, and follow instinct rather than intention. The pieces encourage close observation and stillness, and viewers often describe the work as calm or meditative.
- Do you plan on exploring new horizons in the future?
- I plan to stay rooted in the art-making process, allowing it to guide and reveal unexpected directions. My long-term vision is to balance public commissions with personal work that feeds my creative core, so each informs and sustains the other, keeping my practice authentic and evolving.
Archana Pathak is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2016
Where
Archana Pathak
