When a group of artistic women gather together, what consistently emerges is a colourful quilt of personal, yet universal, life experiences laced with varied threads of emotion. This was visibly evident in the work of some promising young women artists whose offerings - and talent - Verve has been tracking. Coincidentally, they were among those who collected - and showed - under the umbrella of Myrhh (Arabic for 'that which binds') at Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, this monsoon.
What connects the varied women - from different backgrounds and mindsets - is their individual search for a voice that signifies something coherent amidst all the sound and fury of contemporary Indian art that is global and booming. One bond they irrefutably share, apart from their gender, of course, is that they are all working with strength, conviction and tenacity against traditions, constraints and biases in families, workplaces and societies. May their (dia)tribe increase!

PAYAL KHANDWALA
Peeling Paint, Weathered Surfaces
Bohemian and quirky are apt epithets for the elfin Payal Khandwala, who invariably makes a statement with her gypsy style of comfortable layered dressing. Not surprisingly, the circuitous route that led her to art began with a diploma in fashion and textile design at SNDT, Mumbai. But when Payal found that designing did not allow her the complete control over creative expression she yearned for, she switched tracks to pursue a degree in Fine Arts and illustration at the Parsons School of Design, New York. The idiosyncratic artist's repertoire ranges from drawings of the human figure to abstract paintings celebrating colour, geometry and texture in a palette inspired by vegetable dyes, weaves and textures. A diploma course at Metafora, an international workshop in Barcelona, encouraged her to experiment with mixed media. Though she loves travelling and her haunts include "the bazaars and flea markets of Rajasthan and Morocco, the graffiti-filled streets and alleys of New York, the ruins of Hampi, the architectural wonders of Istanbul and beaches...anywhere," Mumbai has always been home - so urban landscapes of peeling paint, monsoon-ridden walls and weathered surfaces are often her starting points.

With flowing curly tresses framing her sharp features, Payal conjures up a picture of a Spanish dancer...and, when we met, she had a bandaged foot to boot! A runaway needle slipped from her slender fingers while she was altering clothes to fit her frame, and the injury interrupted preparations for her upcoming solo show in New York; but gave her time to indulge in her favourite bhel and pani puri on the street where she lives.

For Payal, life is a journey...and she hopes never to arrive. She has a mother and grandmother from whom she has inherited her creative genes; a father who is supporter, advisor, record keeper and organiser rolled into one; and artist and designer, Pinakin Patel, for a mentor and a boyfriend who unstintingly offers "encouragement, sweetness, patience and a sounding board".

MANISHA PAREKH
Graphic Details
The smell of oil paint, turpentine and linseed oil was an intrinsic part of Manisha's childhood - thanks to the fact that she is the daughter of eminent artists, Madhvi and Manu Parekh. "Their career as painters was taking off as I was growing up, so it was very normal to be painting with them," she recalls. Though art was not the only vehicle of creative expression then, as she was also honing her skills in Indian dance and music, the genes she inherited ensured a natural affinity for the profession. She joined the Faculty of Fine Arts at the M.S. University of Baroda and did her M.A. in painting, then received the INLAKS scholarship for a Master's in painting at the Royal College of Arts, London.
Apart from being an eye-opener due to the exposure it offered to the world of Western and European art, the two years spent studying in London taught her a lot about herself. Today, she works a lot with paper - either on paper or with it as material. "I tend to work in layers... it could be layers of paint or layers of paper...to build a rich surface," she explains. Memory Membrane, her recent exhibition at Sakshi Art Gallery, showed her evident predilection for black and white. Not only does it render her work with a graphic quality, but it permits her to focus on form over colour.

The artist enjoys spending time 'making' her work. Since her studio is close to home, she is able to devote time to her domestic duties too. "Both are important, and I enjoy doing them," she insists, adding: "My family is my anchor in every way."

TANUJAA RANE HAMBARDIKAR
The Cat And The Fish
Her self-effacing nature may deceive you into branding her as irresolute, but light-eyed Tanujaa Rane Hambardikar is unwavering in her quest to "be recognised throughout the world as a contemporary Indian woman printmaker". Surmounting obstacles like traditional family values are a breeze when you have limpid pools for eyes. "Nothing is difficult for a woman, only she has to make it possible," declares the woman who chose the demanding profession of printmaking and stuck to it through marriage and the recent distressing loss of her baby. Her father and husband have been her greatest supports, and this conservative Maharashtrian who relishes her mother's dal-rice with ghee and lemon, counts her in-laws among those who believe in her.
As a child, when she won a number of drawing competitions, her schoolteacher urged her to study at Mumbai's Sir J.J. School of Arts - where she "fell in love with the fine arts building and the huge studios." There she did her Bachelor's in drawing and painting and Masters in printmaking; but when she went to the Kanoria Centre for Arts in Ahmedabad and subsequently to the Glasgow Print Studio in the UK, her attitudes changed.

Describing her work as 'the expression of her thoughts', she gives the forms she creates a painterly treatment using colour intaglio. Her etchings display an obvious mastery over the medium and a keen understanding of its subtleties as she brings to life the world of her imagination. Her special focus is the cat and she injects a dose of fun in such representations by juxtaposing fish - the cat's favourite food. With her latent vibrancy surfacing in bright yellows, blues and pinks, Tanujaa certainly makes an impression in her giant-sized prints that embellish the coffee shop of the Grand Hyatt Mumbai.

PRAJAKTA POTNIS PONMANY
A Make-Believe World
Ever since she was in standard seven at Holy Cross Convent in Thane, Mumbai, Prajakta Potnis wanted to be an artist. When the perceptive little schoolgirl shared her aspirations with her 'dedicated' art teacher, Mr. Pachpande, he encouraged her to seek admission at the Sir J.J. School of Arts - where she did her M.F.A. in painting and went on to win awards and accolades, including the INLAKS fellowship. The crowning glory came in 2005, when the promising youngster was acknowledged 'Artist of the Year' by the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.

Drawing inspiration from the objects and landscapes of everyday life, she attempts to transform these realities into coded dreams - a make-believe world which she colourfully describes as 'a fairy tale suspended in reality.' Her recent works, wherein the still life seems displaced from its immediate context, is an extension of this endeavour. Adding a new dimension by placing objects on a pedestal and creating fictitious characters with an identity of their own, comes easy to this artist who excels at rediscovering rather than merely documenting a particular sensibility. She is very conscious of creating her own language.

Counting her parents, her 'little sis' and her in-laws among her allies, she shrugs, "I have just been lucky to have good people around me." While she is still learning to manage time successfully, the perpetual pupil has managed to design a disciplined routine for herself - which she admits "is possible only because of the support of my mother-in-law". That gives her enough time to relish typical and exotic cuisine, invent new recipes, watch movies, listen to music, spend time with her family/in-laws...or go for long drives with her 'best critic and good friend', husband and fellow artist, Justin Ponmany.

APNAVI THACKER
Graffiti On The Streets Of Geneva
With her close-cropped hair and a dress sense that her godchild, Samara, describes as 'funky', Mumbai-born and Geneva-bred Apnavi Thacker is unmistakably avant-garde. This was startlingly evident in her first solo show, Voyeur - works depicting vaginas that suffered violence and abuse. The artist who chose her path early in life, vividly recalls making her decision as a six-year-old...sitting earnestly at her desk with a colouring book, surrounded by a multitude of different-hued felt pens! Observing her utter absorption in the task at hand, her mother asked: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"...and the unhesitating response was: "I want to be a painter." That was over two decades ago... but little Apnavi grew up to be intrigued by the dynamics of colour and the way various pigments, composed in different manners, lay the foundation for the bigger picture.

When she reached her teens, she got involved in street art - an important milestone in her eyes. "Growing up in Switzerland provided me with a secure environment, yet provoked me into questioning the system," she recollects. "Street art is almost like a marginal way of life. I adhered to it immediately and it enabled me to understand how the system manipulates us into a very standard way of thinking." Apnavi dared to be different. A formal education in art was replaced by one in graffiti on the streets of Geneva. "It is an art in itself to sneak out of your house unnoticed, carrying a backpack full of noisy spray cans in the middle of the night - especially when you're 14!" she declares.

At 20, she moved to Mumbai ("an amalgamation of strength, confusion, despair, simplicity, happiness and so many other conflicting emotions that could easily turn me into a lunatic") and switched from cans to paint and from wall to canvas. For almost two years, she trained under Bose Krishnamachari. "He would make me read books about artists and the movements in art...and, at the end of the day, he would ask me questions on what I had read. The conversations we had back then are the backbone to my understanding of art history. Also, Jehangir Jani has guided me through my career, at every stage. My interaction with these two great artists is priceless...and, in my opinion, beats any formal education I could have had."