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Vystrit Designs Bangalore

Saumya Kashyap

Saumya Kashyap makes large scale art by placing thread on natural rattan cane by hand, without an outline to follow.

Eight worksThread on rattan caneNo outline, no tracing

Begin

Eight works

  1. Beholden: a large hand at the top of the panel holds black thread strings that run down to a kneeling woman in a teal dress, with grey wings open behind her, on natural cane.

    Work 1 of 8

    Beholden

    The threads have become part of the pattern.

    Medium
    Thread placed by hand on natural rattan cane, in a wood frame. An exclusive work.
    Size
    Height 8 ft x Width 4 ft
    Theme
    Women, agency and freedom.
    Enquire about Beholden (opens in a new tab)
  2. A Beacon of Hope: a weathered lighthouse and keeper's house beneath flowering branches, a small boat on the sea at lower left.

    Work 2 of 8

    A Beacon of Hope

    Falling apart, still lit.

    Medium
    Hand carved and finished custom shape. Handmade teak wood frame, natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing).
    Size
    Height 4 ft x Width 3 ft x Depth 2 in
    Enquire about A Beacon of Hope (opens in a new tab)
  3. Modern Tree of Life: a tree drawn in brown and ochre thread line with scattered green leaves, each bird sitting alone on its own branch.

    Work 3 of 8

    Modern Tree of Life

    Every bird on its own branch.

    Medium
    Mixed media textile hand stitched directly on cane webbing. Handmade teak wood frame bolstered with concealed steel frame, handwoven natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing).
    Size
    Height 6 ft x Width 4 ft x Depth 2.2 in
    Enquire about Modern Tree of Life (opens in a new tab)
  4. Pop Diva: a woman's face resting on her forearm, built from many shades of pink, peach, yellow and violet thread, hung on a green wall.

    Work 4 of 8

    Pop Diva

    Fourteen shades in the nose alone.

    Medium
    Hand carved and finished custom shape. Handmade teak wood frame, natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing).
    Size
    Height 6 ft x Width 4 ft x Depth 2.2 in
    Enquire about Pop Diva (opens in a new tab)
  5. Lady in Red Saree: a woman wrapped in a red saree, standing three quarters to the viewer, hung on a green wall.

    Work 5 of 8

    Lady in Red Saree

    Red for courage, yellow for warmth.

    Medium
    Hand carved and finished custom shape. Handmade teak wood frame, natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing).
    Size
    Height 6 ft x Width 4 ft x Depth 2.3 in
    Enquire about Lady in Red Saree (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Masks We Wear: four faces in one row across an eight foot cane panel, the two in the middle worked as brightly coloured masks.

    Work 6 of 8

    The Masks We Wear

    Four faces, two of them borrowed.

    Medium
    Varied textile hand-stitched directly on the stretched cane webbing. Handmade teak wood frame, bolstered with a rectangular mild steel frame, handwoven natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing), mixed textile.
    Size
    Height 4 ft x Width 8 ft x Depth 2.7 in
    Enquire about The Masks We Wear (opens in a new tab)
  7. Enlightenment: a profile drawn in a single peach thread line on bare cane, with roses, pansies and butterflies growing where her hair would be.

    Work 7 of 8

    Enlightenment

    A head that stopped being a container and started being a garden.

    Medium
    Mixed media textile hand stitched directly on cane webbing. Handmade teak wood frame bolstered with concealed steel frame, handwoven natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing).
    Size
    Height 8 ft x Width 4 ft x Depth 2.7 in
    Enquire about Enlightenment (opens in a new tab)
  8. Starry Night, Reimagined: curling ribbons of blue, yellow and green thread on cane painted black, shown as a close detail above the full panel.

    Work 8 of 8

    Starry Night, Reimagined

    Van Gogh, on black cane, with the busyness taken out.

    Medium
    Hand carved and finished custom shape. Handmade teak wood frame, natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing), hand painted black.
    Size
    Height 3.4 ft x Width 6.3 ft x Depth 2.5 in
    Enquire about Starry Night, Reimagined (opens in a new tab)

The artform

Veyari

Thread is placed by hand on natural rattan cane, without any outline or trace on the surface. Each piece is built freehand, counting holes, adjusting by feel, starting over when needed.

Full-width macro of Veyari: coloured textile pulled through the holes of star pattern rattan cane and crossed over itself, one hole at a time
A Beacon of Hope, up close. Each cross is a strip of textile pulled through the cane and crossed over itself.

Because the weave supplies a fixed grid, every edge in a finished piece runs along one of the weave's axes, and because the unstitched cane is left visible, the bare rattan works as the lightest colour in the palette rather than as empty background.

  1. Frame and cane preparation

    A frame is made from ethically sourced teak by generational carpenters. Large pieces are bolstered with a concealed mild steel frame so that several feet of stretched cane stay flat under tension. Handwoven natural star pattern rattan mesh, the same cane webbing used on traditional furniture, is stretched across the frame and fixed.

  2. Composition worked out freehand

    The design is resolved without transferring it to the surface. There is no outline, no tracing and no printed template on the cane. Placement is decided by counting the holes of the weave and judging proportion by eye against the frame.

  3. Thread placement

    Textile strips and yarns are pulled through the openings and crossed over themselves, stitch by stitch. Colour is built by adjacency rather than mixing: a single face may carry more than a dozen shades and tints placed side by side.

  4. Correction and rework

    Because there is no guide to follow, errors are only visible once a passage is in. The only correction is removal and restitching of that section. This is the slowest part of the process and the reason the finished surface reads as even.

  5. Finishing

    Raised and three dimensional elements, such as flower masses or transparent butterfly wings, are built up in additional layers so they stand off the mesh. Thread ends are secured on the reverse. The teak frame is hand finished, and custom shaped works are hand carved to their final profile.

  6. Mounting

    The completed panel is mounted for wall hanging, or integrated into a functional piece such as furniture, a mirror, a cabinet or a lamp. Weight is significant at scale, so fixings must be specified accordingly.

The work, up close

Eight pieces on the wall

Conceptual portraits and landscapes, up to eight feet tall. Beautiful across a room, and rewarding for anyone who walks up close.

Beholden: a large hand at the top of the panel holds black thread strings that run down to a kneeling woman in a teal dress, with grey wings open behind her, on natural cane.
Saumya Kashyap standing beside Beholden, a tall panel of thread on cane, in a bright hallway.
01

The threads have become part of the pattern.

A hand hangs over the top of an eight foot panel. Black threads run from its fingers down to a kneeling woman, her head bowed, grey wings open behind her. Beholden is an exclusive work, four feet by eight, made entirely by hand by Saumya Kashyap. It is a comment on women, their agency and the idea of freedom, and it is unsettling because of where the threads end up.

“Chains remain external to the person they restrain. The threads in Beholden participate in the construction of the woman herself. They suggest that power has entered the formation of her identity. The controlling hand is no longer merely outside her. Its instructions have become part of the pattern through which she understands herself.”

From the gallery writeup

Beholden

Thread placed by hand on natural rattan cane, in a wood frame. An exclusive work. Height: 8 feet x Width: 4 feet
A Beacon of Hope: a weathered lighthouse beneath flowering branches, stitched on natural cane in a teak frame
Detail of the lantern room, black thread in open columns around a small stitched flame
02

Falling apart, still lit.

The lighthouse and the keeper's house are visibly failing. In the lantern room at the top, a small knot of yellow and orange thread is still burning, and a single boat on the sea is proof that the light still does its job.

A Beacon of Hope

Hand carved and finished custom shape. Handmade teak wood frame, natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing). Height: 4 feet x Width: 3 feet | Depth: 2 inch. Weight: 6.8 kg
Starry Night, Reimagined: swirling blue sky, moon and cypress stitched on black painted cane
Detail of the blue sky ribbons outlined in white and yellow thread
03

Van Gogh, on black cane, with the busyness taken out.

The cane is hand painted black before a single stitch goes in, so the whole panel becomes night. The swirl, the moon and the cypress stay. Everything else is discarded.

Starry Night, Reimagined

Hand carved and finished custom shape. Handmade teak wood frame, natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing), hand painted black. Height: 3.4 feet x Width: 6.3 feet | Depth: 2.5 inches. Weight: 18.6 kg
Lady in Red Saree: a woman in a red and gold saree stitched on bare cane, hung on a green wall
04

Red for courage, yellow for warmth.

A woman stands three quarters to the viewer, wrapped in a red saree that takes up most of the six foot panel. The cane around her is left completely bare, so the figure sits on raw rattan with no background at all.

Lady in Red Saree

Hand carved and finished custom shape. Handmade teak wood frame, natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing). Height: 6 feet x Width: 4 feet | Depth: 2.3 inches. Weight: 21.4 kg
Pop Diva: a woman's face resting on her forearm, stitched in dozens of bright shades, hung on a green wall
Detail of the face showing individual coloured stitches on cane
05

Fourteen shades in the nose alone.

Almost nothing in the face is one colour. The nose carries as many as fourteen shades and tints, blended entirely by placing one stitch next to another.

Pop Diva

Hand carved and finished custom shape. Handmade teak wood frame, natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing). Height: 6 feet x Width: 4 feet | Depth: 2.2 inches. Weight: 18.6 kg
Modern Tree of Life: a tree drawn in brown thread with birds that each sit alone on their own branch
06

Every bird on its own branch.

The tree is drawn almost entirely in line. The birds are the reason to look twice: no two are alike, none of them shares a branch with another, and none of them is facing another.

Modern Tree of Life

Mixed media textile hand stitched directly on cane webbing. Handmade teak wood frame bolstered with concealed steel frame, handwoven natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing). Height: 6 feet x Width: 4 feet | Depth: 2.2 inches. Weight: 18.6 kg
Enlightenment: a profile in a single peach thread line, the hair replaced by a mass of stitched flowers
Detail of the face, drawn in one line with bare cane left inside it
07

A head that stopped being a container and started being a garden.

Eight feet tall and almost entirely empty. The face is a profile drawn in a single peach thread line, one stitch wide. Everything that would normally be hair is instead a mass of flowers worked at full density.

Enlightenment

Mixed media textile hand stitched directly on cane webbing. Handmade teak wood frame bolstered with concealed steel frame, handwoven natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing). Height: 8 feet x Width: 4 feet | Depth: 2.7 inches. Weight: 65 kg
The Masks We Wear: four faces stitched in a single row across eight feet of cane
Detail of the king's mask with a red and white fish motif
08

Four faces, two of them borrowed.

Eight feet of cane webbing carry four faces in a single unbroken row. The two in the middle are the masks, the two on the outside are the people wearing them. Nothing separates them except colour.

The Masks We Wear

Varied textile hand-stitched directly on the stretched cane webbing. Handmade teak wood frame, bolstered with a rectangular mild steel frame, handwoven natural star pattern rattan mesh (cane webbing), mixed textile. Height: 4 feet x Width: 8 feet | Depth: 2.7 inches. Weight: 27.6 kg

Beyond the wall

Furniture, light and mirrors

Veyari also goes into furniture, lighting and mirrors, so the art can live in the room as well as on its wall.

“For me, design begins with seeing new possibilities in familiar materials, then giving an idea the time and effort it needs to become something original.”

Saumya Kashyap
A half-round console table with a floral band in thread on cane, and a wall mirror with arched wooden doors above it, in a white hallway.
Console table with arched mirror doors, floral
A half-round console table with a peacock feather band in thread on cane, and a wall mirror with arched wooden doors above it.
Console table with arched mirror doors, peacock
A round wooden wall mirror split in a yin and yang curve, one half a mirror and the other half thread on cane in yellow, blue and green.
Yin and yang wall mirror
A round coffee table with a thread on cane top of two birds on a flowering branch, with curved cushioned seats tucked around it.
Coffee table with puffies
A square lamp shade of thread on cane in a red diamond pattern, lit from inside, on a three legged wooden stand.
Floor lamp with art panels
An oval dining table with a thread on cane top showing two bright parrots, with a bench and cane backed chairs.
Dining table, parrots
A tall wooden bar unit with cane door panels worked in colourful mandala shapes in thread.
Bar unit, mandala
A round wooden coffee table with a thread on cane top of blue waves and a yellow sun, and a cane shelf below.
Round coffee table, waves
An oval coffee table with a thread on cane top showing a hot air balloon over green hills, with a cane shelf below.
Oval coffee table
A wooden shoe rack and bench with a thread on cane door in blue, red and yellow flame shapes, and a blue cushioned seat.
Shoe rack with seating
Who makes it

The hands behind the thread

An all women team of textile artisans produces the textile work on every piece. Most come from grassroots backgrounds, and many worked as domestic help before joining.

Generating good work for local artisans while doing it is not a side effect. It is the point.

Saumya Kashyap
Close-up of dense hand placed thread on cane from The Masks We Wear

Trained from scratch

Artisans are trained by Vystrit in stitching, weaving and textile art.

Paid through training

Artisans are paid in full through the training period.

Unlimited leave

The team works with unlimited leave and a deliberately relaxed culture.

Generational carpenters and cane weavers

The frames and cane are made by generational artisans, using ethically sourced teak from local forests, natural cane, and reclaimed wood and recycled textile where possible.

Vystrit is founded and led by a woman, and all product lines are conceived, designed and manufactured in house.

  • Handwoven natural star pattern rattan mesh
  • Ethically sourced teak, from local forests
  • Reclaimed wood, in several pieces
  • Textile strips, threads and yarns, including recycled textile
  • Concealed mild steel frame, on large works
  • Hand applied paint on cane, on selected pieces

The artist

Saumya Kashyap

Founder and Chief Artist, Vystrit Designs. Working in Veyari.

“I have always been a student of art rather than a graduate of it.”

Saumya Kashyap is the founder and Chief Artist at Vystrit Designs, and the artist behind Veyari, an artform in which coloured thread is placed by hand on natural rattan cane with no outline or tracing on the surface. She trained as a computer engineer at IIIT Hyderabad, left an IT career for creative work, and has since been a candle designer and a professional family photographer. She lives in Bangalore and works with an all women team of textile artisans.

More about Saumya on vystrit.com (opens in a new tab)
Portrait of Saumya Kashyap in a white jacket, smiling, against a dark backdrop.
Saumya Kashyap.

Commissioned Work

A work made for your wall

Tell the studio about the space, the size you have in mind and what you would like to live with.

Start a commission enquiry (opens in a new tab) [email protected]