Art Scene India: London Artist

Bound – Sculptural Lighting Series by Purva Kundaje, Art Scene India

Mangalore by Purva Kundaje

'Bound’, forms an innovative sculptural lighting series which combines aesthetics and functionality in a unique manner. The brainchild of Purva Kundaje, an artist and architectural designer based in London, the works explore possibilities of material and object, and navigate notions of authorship, co-ownership and collaboration across geographies.

A graduate of the Royal College of Art, where she completed an MA in Design Products in 2021, Purva grounds her practice in narrative expression and sustainable material exploration. In the past, she has collaborated with craft-focused studios such as Rooshad Shroff and Sybarite, and has engaged extensively with women artisan collectives in India to integrate contemporary design languages with traditional craft methodologies. Her recent lighting project ‘Bound’ forges an unusual path – it begins as a sparse handstitched paper lamp, and then invites creative practitioners from varied fields such as poets, illustrators, textile artists, designers and others to participate as co-creators.

The collaborative aspect of the project originated from a previously held workshop led by Blake Carlson-Joshua and Purva, where they aided and supported participants process and express emotions through making objects.

Bound- Original Lamp form by Purva Kundaje

The experience revealed the range and depth of creative expression possible even from non-designers and artists. This subsequently inspired her to create a blank canvas, a minimal object which could act as a material and artefact to memorialise multiple collaborations and narratives.

“Each lamp begins as a handstitched, illuminated object made from an experimental paper blend of recycled newspaper and plasterboard waste. Developed through sustainable design research in partnership with Blake Carlson-Joshua, the material is both fragile and enduring—a luminous surface that invites response,” explains Purva.

The lighting series is in a sense an archive, which continues to evolve as various practitioners share and embed their stories, their cultural heritage, and memories onto the surface of the paper. Text, images and materials coalesce and assimilate on the shell of each lamp, bringing alive the plurality of the project, and the varied aesthetics and visual vocabulary of each piece.

Threshold by Purva Kundaje

Among the works, ‘Mangalore’ references the architectural detailing and silhouettes from Purva’s hometown in South India - fragments of memories that are abstracted and represented, while ‘Threshold’ also by her, navigates structure and spatial harmony while celebrating cultural memories and lineage.

All other pieces have been created in collaboration with other creators. – ‘The Kite Flyers’ by Yuwei Cong captures the fluidity of

Soft Silence by Teng Xue

movement inspired by the action of a kite caught in the wind. ‘Utopía de una mujer que está cansada’ by Chuxi Zhou in red ink is a memoir which resembles a street map that laments loss and longing imprinted within the urban fabric.

“The Adventures of an Ugly Cat” by Boer Zhu is a whimsical piece addressed to her cat, and combines painting and poetry, obscuring the boundaries between text and visual art. ‘Soft Silence’ by Teng Xue appears to be a labyrinth, reminiscent of the chaos, the maze and the ambiguity of life, while ‘The Flow Within’ by Elisa Nalon also navigates the unpredictability of life.

The Adventures of an Ugly Cat by Boer Zhu

Every work reflects the creator’s individuality, and gives a voice to their unique stories, rooted in personal histories, identity and memories, and which emerge from distinct socio-cultural and political milieu. The collaborative nature of the project collates diverse narratives from various parts of the world, and also offers a platform to various artistic voices to be seen and heard.

In contemporary times, where AI and technology dominate, an initiative such as this which lays emphasis on sustainable design, the tactility of the surface, and employs the materiality of the paper through acts of writing, stitching or painting creates a corporeal and sensory engagement.

Purva’s interdisciplinary practice and her artistic sensibilities encompasses spatial installations, furniture design, and collaborative storytelling. Through this project, she thoughtfully investigates and engages with the emotional and cultural dimensions of form, utilizing reclaimed materials and light as mediums for evoking memory, authorship, and facilitating transformation.

‘Bound’ has been previously exhibited at Material Matters 2023, part of the London Design Festival, and Conceptual Erasure (Fulham, 2025), and is an ongoing project.

- By Nalini S Malaviya

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Art Scene India

16 Sept 2025

Review: Bound – Sculptural Lighting Series

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