Life & Style | Home & Interiors
Seemita's art dominates her home
As an artist who works from home, Seemita's art dominates her double-storey house in Umm Suqeim where almost every wall is covered with a variety of canvases, ranging from floor-to-ceiling to tiny black and white images.
- By Devjani Cox, Freelance Writer, InsideOut
- Published: 00:00 December 1, 2009
- Image Credit: Grace Paras
- The table setting is a riot of colour. Christmas ornaments are thrown in with personal collectibles.
If you're looking for a minimalist table setting, then Seemita Roy's dining room should not be your first stop. However, it is just the place if you want a space that positively reeks of high octane glamour with jewel tones and saturated colour.
As an artist who works from home, Seemita's art dominates her double-storey house in Umm Suqeim where almost every wall is covered with a variety of canvases, ranging from floor-to-ceiling to tiny black and white images. T
he dining room, which could be described as a decadent cocktail of old wood, glittering crystal and worn crochet fabric, exudes an ‘all mixed up' aesthetic. And this is where Seemita and husband Samar host their annual New Year's Day lunch. "I like to lay a nice table," says Seemita. "It gives me great pleasure and I enjoy the entire experience."
The couple's roots lie in West Bengal, India, but having spent a hefty chunk of their lives away from home, they now have a mixed group of friends and celebrate almost every major festival. "New Year's Day, however, is the start of the year, and a good day to welcome friends into the home," she says. "Also, by that time, people are usually spent from the festivities in the preceding weeks and welcome some calm. We just sit around, eat and chat, and this has now become an annual event."
This year's table has a maximalist setting to induce a banquet-like feel. A large silvered urn filled with apples, oranges, pomegranates and festive baubles creates a striking centrepiece. Blue and white Spode crockery against a white crochet tablecloth injects a vintage feel, and personal pieces from the couple's travels - delicate angel faces with gold wings from Switzerland, blackened brass hands that were gifts from a friend in Delhi, a bronze bust from Germany and tall candelabra bought from Portobello Road in England - are placed in between. Giant canvases in silver-grey and white by Seemita's student, Sidhant Bhagchandani, provide a decorative backdrop. The rest of the paintings in the room are by the artist herself.
Further embellishments include Christmas ornaments that glisten in the light shed by the many candles in glass candleholders. The candles also cast flickering shadows on the bric-à-brac. This is Seemita's way of allowing herself to appreciate the objects that she once fell in love with and acquired, but didn't always have the opportunity to use.
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