Recreating the decayed

Love for architecture may be common, but trying to achieve the warm feeling of the old and battered by recreating the ageing and weathered effects of time is something unusual.

This is exactly what Dilailah Galbraith, a textile-designer graduate, tries to achieve. Her works are on display at the exhibition entitled 'Paper & Textiles', at Majlis Gallery. Together with her, Ealish Wilson and Leone Collins exhibit a unique blend of textile art approached from two different design perspectives.

Says Dilailah: "A lot of my inspiration comes from having lived and experienced many different cultures." With a degree in textile art, she specialised in printed textiles and transferred the same techniques to handmade paper using mixed medium to create collages and surface texture.

"I love to use rich colours and textures, and for this reason my work adapts itself naturally to Middle Eastern themes, with an ethnic trace that could easily breathe both Arabic and South American."

A woman of many influences, she uses hand-made paper, paints, ink, bleaches, gold leaf, hand-crinkled paper, ripping the shapes, burning the edges of each piece – all contributing to the warm, aged appearance.

Ealish Wilson uses mixed medium and loves to combine both contemporary and traditional architectural details by blending materials and subject matter to create an intriguing and tactile piece of art. No stranger to the gallery, she has exhibited earlier a couple of times.

Leone Collins comes from the fashion discipline, but she is more inclined towards interior designing and her textural designs are influenced by modern architectural forms. Realising the potential for textile art in the field of interiors, the two joined forces to exhibit at the gallery. Both traditional silk-screen printing and high-tech computer-aided design form the basis for their joint venture.

Said one of them: "Our themes are from contemporary Indian designs combined with the bold, courageous use of colour and form, and this helps us to display a versatility of work in a wide variety of materials, mediums and scale."
All three artists work for personal as well as commissioned projects in Dubai. The exhibition is on till December 4.