The Fabric of Object Theory

Medium : Thin acrylics on muslin / Dimensions : 6 ft x 7 ft (approx)

There’s a phrase we use about cities and cultures: the fabric of a place. It’s the atmosphere you can’t always explain, but you can feel. This work takes that idea literally. It is painted on cloth, a large, unprimed canvas fabric, because this piece is about what Shubhi is made of. Shubhi’s temperament. Her pattern of becoming. And how all of that eventually forms the backbone of Object Theory, an extension of her way of seeing, gathering, and holding stories. A brand rooted in heritage, craft, and “bringing India home.”  Or if I may say, Shubhi’s journey home. 

The painting began as one large field, almost 6ft x 4ft. I worked with very thin, water-heavy paint that soaks into the fabric and creates a washed, merging effect. In places, the paint thickens. Some parts feel like weather, others bits like decisions. As an abstract painter, there’s a familiar pressure to “solve” the whole composition, to know when to stop, the pressure on that one stroke that can make or break the piece. But what often happens in my process is that small sections start to look complete on their own, like they are already their own paintings. So I leaned into that truth. I painted the full cloth, then cut out the strongest sections. I rearranged them until the whole piece finally made visual sense. The final composition is intentional, but it doesn’t hide the fact that it came from trial, instinct, and editing. 

That method mirrors Shubhi’s story, and the way Object Theory speaks: experiment, refine, keep what holds, let the rest fall away. 

Across the seven panels, the arc is simple. 

1. Wide-eyed curiosity – student years, early 20s
   
2. Shubhi’s Mount Everest – physical and mental health
   
3. The long way around – a string of failures and the fear behind them
   
4. An unexpected conversation with the universe – discovering Buddhism and the spiritual plane
   
5. A new centre of gravity – London feeling like home
   
6. The turning point – finding agency within self
   
7. Owning the blueprint – learning to not resist self-doubt, but building anyway

The number also matters quietly. It echoes Tapas, Object Theory’s capsule collection comprising of 7 different artefacts.

Even though the panels carry their own individual character, the colour palette stays continuous because they are, quite literally, cut from the same cloth. That’s the point. Object Theory doesn’t arrive fully formed but comes together the way this painting comes together: parts pulled from different places, pressures, walks, and worlds, then arranged until they become coherent. For Shubhi (and for the world).