Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Viraj Khanna's latest artwork

A curtain raiser to designer Viraj Khanna’s upcoming art exhibition in Miami tomorrow

Artist-cum-designer Viraj Khanna, who’s also the son of famed couturier Anamika Khanna, takes us through his latest artworks to be showcased in Miami from tomorrow
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Artist and designer Viraj Khanna is all set to captivate the Miami audiences with his latest collection of hand-embroidered artworks at I-Pop by Rajiv Menon Contemporary, which will take place at the Untitled Art Fair, represented by Rajiv Menon Contemporary gallery from December 4 to 8, at Miami Beach, Florida. Viraj has experimented with newer materials such as artificial leather, artificial leaves, and grass as embroidery mediums.

Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Viraj Khanna's latest artwork

Embracing this year's fair theme, "East Meets West," Viraj brings to life the dynamic interplay between India's rich heritage and the contemporary global landscape. His figures, a seamless blend of desires and emotions, embody the intersection of consumer culture and the wider contemporary art scene. Through his imaginative figurative style, Viraj employs traditional Indian embroidery techniques to craft a youthful voice that speaks to the moment of global encounter.

Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Viraj Khanna's latest artwork

Viraj's creative use of embroidery techniques such as zardozi and ari infuses the aesthetics of India's global consumer culture—defined by fashion and design—into a painterly form that merges realism and abstraction, reflecting the evolving identities in South Asia.

Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Viraj Khanna's latest artwork

In this exhibition, Viraj presents embroidered artworks on innovative materials, marking a slight departure from his signature style. His narrative-driven approach vividly captures different moments of life through intricate embroidery threads.

Viraj takes us through the collection.

Q

Tell us how excited are you about the exhibition at Miami?

A

I am very excited about showing in Miami!! It is always amazing to see how people respond to the hand embroidery work… Especially if people haven’t seen much of it before. This time I have incorporated a lot of new materials in my practice. I have worked with artificial leather, Astro-turf, artificial leaves among others. The possibilities are endless and I can work with anything that is around me. The idea of incorporating different objects which were meant for a specific purpose and rather using it to tell a different story is what excites me.

Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Q

Tell us about the artworks you will be showcasing? How have you weaved in the theme east meets west?

A

I am using various embroidery techniques that we often use for our clothing in India and telling different stories with it. I am commenting on our ‘social media’ curated lives. We live in a society where we are represented by images. The images we see of people on social media platforms depict only certain aspects of their lives usually. By working on those images and abstracting the faces I am bringing attention to the fact that those are curated lives and often not the reality. Comparison is natural among social groups… Earlier, the social groups would be small. Nowadays, the comparison among people is unlimited because of social media. There is so much research suggesting that this is quite unhealthy for people.

Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Q

What inspires your embroidery?

A

There is a constant movement from fashion to art and vice versa now. I am constantly surrounded by thousands of different materials and fabric. Every time I see something different and exciting, it gives me new ideas about experimentation. Then I take those techniques and materials and start working with them to tell my own stories. For this show, I have worked with artificial leather and Astro-turf etc. Maybe we would soon start using them for our clothes.

Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Viraj Khanna's latest artwork
Q

What are you currently working on?

A

Currently, I am working on two solos for January and February. In January, I am showing primarily sculptures with Tao Art Gallery in Mumbai. In February, I am working with Kalakriti from Hyderabad to show a new style of painting. I have started to use the ‘khakha’ or tracing paper which is a part of the embroidery process to create marks on different surfaces. The khakha has thousands of needle holes through which I am seeping paint to create these marks and then further painting them. It will be exciting to show these ‘khakha’ paintings.

Q

In the fashion scene, what are the new collabs with Vishesh for menswear and AK-OK?

A

Vishesh has gone to Central Saint Martins for his Masters in fashion design. We are very excited to see how his work develops and how he can come back and implement things at AK. He has gone for 2 years though. We just launched our AK-OK collection at SAKS. There are a few more collaborations which I cannot reveal yet, they are on the way.

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