Naturally beautiful

Lampshades made of paper and cement by Paridhi Burathoki radiate a zen-like serene and simple beauty. Burathoki’s designs speak for themselves and make a strong statement about the beauty of natural materials. 

The young designer worked with Jenny Pinto after studying at NIFT Bangalore and started experimenting with natural materials like paper, cement and leather. “I love exploring material. I also worked with cork,” she shares, adding, “Working with ones hands and developing new patterns is very satisfying. You can explore a material in so many ways till you get that satisfying product that you had been wanting to create.’

As cement is a heavy material, buyers shy away from this material. However, Paridhi tried to make it five times lighter with some industrial material and fibre. “It was a hybrid cement and I made lamps with it. While this hybrid cement retains the strength of the original material, it loses the weight,” she shares. She trained the artisans to work with the material and helped them create unique designs. 

Her foray into leather was a result of her fascination with monotone colours. “Earty colours attract me. While I have worked with it in the past, I don’t want to continue with the same as it is not animal-friendly,” she shares, adding, “I am trying to develop a paper that can be as strong as leather and that is my new project.”

Talking about her love for monotone, she says, “There are many buyers who lover colour. For them I have included colour in my collections but I give them a matte finish, so that there is a subtlety to the design and yet it appeals a wider range of buyers. For example, the use of yellow in the cement designs is one such experiment.”

The lifestyle product designer also feels strongly for the crafts sector. “Personally, I feel stone sculpting is one of the crafts that is highly attractive. I tried to bring in some contemporary touches to the work of artisans who were following the traditional designs in Shivarpatna near Bengaluru. I come from Dehradun, where cane is very popular. So different regions have wonderful crafts and they can bring better returns to these craft communities if more designers step in and help them,” she says.

She believes it is important to know how to commercialise one’s skills and that is what the crafts sector needs too. The young designer also got a national level award for transforming traditional craft into contemporary design. 

However, she also acknowledges that sometimes few craft forms become so commercialised, as happened in the case of Athangudi tiles, that corporates start making it, adversely affecting the traditional ways of creating these crafts. 

At the heart of her passion lies the urge to uplift communities that are lagging behind in this sector. “I am still exploring a lot of mediums in order to learn new things and help these communities,” she concludes.