Pallavi Padukone

Pallavi Padukone is a New York based textile designer and artist with an MFA in Textiles from Parsons School of Design. She allows her work to be guided by culture and craft, taking inspiration from nature and her surrounding landscape for color and patterns and innovating with sustainable materials. She experiments with techniques of embroidery, weaving, print and natural dyeing and loves to travel, experience and document traditional craft. Her design practice strongly believes in the philosophy of respecting craftsmanship, the handmade and the slow.

Reminiscent explores the relationship of living in an urban environment and craving the sensorial experience of being amidst nature. The sense of smell is a powerful catalyst to trigger memories and feelings of calm and comfort. Reinterpreting the fragrance industry, I use textiles as aroma therapy to condense time and distance and create an immersive experience to reconnect with nature and nostalgia.  

Through a collection of wall hangings, tapestries and room dividers that stimulates the senses beyond sight with a feeling of familiarity, I play with six different fragrances each bearing a strong connection with my South Indian heritage.

Creating a system of fragrant embellishment, I developed a natural coating for yarn and beads using filtered beeswax hardened with a tree-based resin, pure essential oils for fragrance and natural pigments for color. Reminiscent allowed me to collaborate and reconnect with nature even while being confined to my apartment following the outbreak of COVID-19. I relied heavily on techniques by hand and integrated ingredients from my kitchen to help build my color palette. My collection incorporates hand-spun recycled sari silk from India, embroidered fragrant vetiver root and organza silk naturally dyed in earth hues. Each piece reinforcing my connection with nature and the intimate memory triggered by scent.

Instagram - @pallu.padu
Website - pallavipadukone.com
Email - padup705@newschool.edu