Fashion designer, artist, and branding expert, Jayesh Sachdev talks about balancing his entrepreneurial streak and his deeply personal art.
Fashion was the medium, art was the ideology.
Jayesh Sachdev
Featured image: Artwork for Grazia’s Cover. Contemporary artist Jayesh Sachdev.
Quirk Box was born out of this intent. A simple idea of putting art onto fabric, and draping human bodies, making them walking art galleries of my work.
How does a multi-hyphenate like you balance the contradicting elements of your work?
I studied Visual Communication and toyed with the idea of studying fine art. A part of me wanted to be both. I started off professionally as an artist and the challenges of it made me want to adapt my learnings and find a new medium to present art. Quirk Box was born out of this intent. A simple idea of putting art onto fabric, and draping human bodies, making them walking art galleries of my work. Fashion was the medium, art was the ideology. This made my art more accessible, approachable, more viable. My work is very graphic. I had influences of SouthEast Asian Artists, Graphic Designers and Japanese Manga, none of which was mainstream gallery art, but this soon became my style, and what I enjoyed, and galleries did not really care to showcase this as mainstream a decade ago. Under the umbrella of Quirk Box, I managed to make this mainstream. Our greatest achievements arise out of our biggest obstacles. Hence I don’t try to conform to my surroundings, but instead be inspired by it.
How do you balance the contradicting motivations: commercial v/s creative? Do you handle the commercials yourself or is it outsourced to agents?
As an artist, I did have 2 galleries that managed me, one in Bombay, one in New York, this was much later though, initially I handled it myself. Today I dabble between a Design Studio, and a Fashion and Lifestyle label, the commercial angles for both of which I handle entirely. I suppose there is an inherent entrepreneurial streak within that both exhausts and excites me.
I function under 3 identities, primarily to balance commercial and personal work and creative freedom. Quirk Box Design, is purely commercial work, it pays the bills. Quirk Box (Fashion), is largely Creatively driven, it allows me the freedom to make art and present it to a large audience, and being an independent artist; where I do work that may not have commercial appeal, but resonates with what I enjoy working on in my personal capacity. For me all 3 co-exist and I cannot imagine one without another.
Tell us about your own personal evolution, vis a vis the work that you do.
It’s been conflicting to identify between a professional artist, a Visual Communicator and to be labeled a Fashion Designer (which I’m not) ) Juggling between 3, in the capacity of a Visual Artist has been an evolution of me and my work in most ways. I started off emulating the works of other artists, insecure and unsure of my own works, and gradually started to feel and find my own sense of aesthetic. I struggled between creating for self and for others, between being a designer and being an artist, and perhaps learning to embrace, love and thrive under both as a part of who I am, has been a large part of that evolution for me.
Let’s talk about the more unusual aspects of your particular creative journey. When did you start thinking of the body as a canvas?
I took Life drawing as an elective in Design school and have been exploring the human form since. I danced and rolled in paint on canvas back in Design school as an exploration and performance and fine art. It stemmed from discussions with people, largely women, about notions of body and image issues, vulnerabilities, insecurities, stereotypes and how art could be a means to address a conversation.
Your thoughts on nudity and the body.
Nudity is the greatest form of liberation.
How do you deal with the conceptual difficulty and uncertainty of creating something completely new with each project?
As Artists we have a voice. As an artist that also is the Creative Director/Founder at Quirk Box, I also have significant reach to communicate. A project, Priyanka (Chief Illustrator at Quirk Box) and I were working on, on Indian Mythology, stories we believe are not sufficiently told and in modern context are forgotten; we were trying to find a means to re-tell these stories through Illustrations that would become the Print of our Fashion collection. The narrative was stories and not religion or religious scriptures. But given how intertwined Indian mythology and religion is, we were embroiled in a controversy with a right-wing political party, over our art and it’s presentation and what they called mis-representation, amongst many other things.
Given that we strongly continue to believe that these stories must be told and re-told as fairy tales and myths with no religious connotations, much like stories we grew up reading of Queens trapped in Castles guarded by Demons and kings coming to their rescue, these stories were no less exciting but mired in religious story telling they were always subject to scrutiny and ire. So we continue to work on a personal and ambitious project along the lines.
Let’s talk about your long-term vision. Where are you at on the journey towards manifesting this?
Ever since Quirk Box came into being, I found very little time to pursue Fine Art’s in a way I might have liked to. I definitely see myself getting back in that space again. There are a few personal projects in the space of publication and illustration that I am inclined to pursue along with and for Priyanka.
Artists have always thrived under adversity. The world will eventually heal or change and we will overcome our greatest challenges, eventually, but for now, the focus should be to create.
What kind of critical inputs does the art world need at this moment to overcome the loss of income and opportunity as a direct result of the lock-downs worldwide?
Artists have always thrived under adversity. And given these strange times, I would encourage them to continue to create in hope of a better tomorrow. The world will eventually heal or change and we will overcome our greatest challenges, eventually, but for now, the focus should be to create.
I discovered a very popular social media handle that’s emerged called the Covid Art Museum, another call FaceTime Shoots. Clearly artists are adapting and that is our greatest strength. Use new media as a means to promote and showcase work. Virtual is the new real. No one is going to visit an Art Gallery for a very very long time, and it’s time Art Galleries adapted to both virtual means of showcasing art and also encouraging a new breed of art and artists.
Which shows, performances and experiences have shaped your own creative process? Who are your maestros? Whose journey would you want to read about?
My first series of paintings were nudes. And given that I had no formal education in Fine Art, Indian galleries, as they have always been, shied away from showcasing these works. New York happened, and the art culture I witnessed after 5 shows changed my perspective of how art should be viewed. This led to the birth of Quirk Box, a means for me to showcase my Art through a new medium. Along the way my Art and Design evolved.
Ravi Verma for his exquisiteness, Sabyasachi for his business acumen, Harris Lithos for his butt prints, Banksy for his political voice and a host of Japanese Illustrators really excite me. The enigma that Banksy is what I’d love to know in its entirety.
How does the market/audience interact and react to your work?
My recent Artwork for the Grazia April Issue Cover went viral. I’ve had a host of celebrities reach out to me for Prints, a host of online galleries want to showcase the work, and numerous conversations that stemmed from this most recent work.
Future projects: What are you working on now? What should we look forward to?
We have a Design Agency that handles Branding and Design, Illustration, Packaging Design, and the focus is largely on this space.
What were you working on when the lockdown was announced?
Quirk Box (Fashion) recently introduced the SS20 collection in March, and Covid put a comma on it. So we’re going to have to revisit that when the world opens up again. At the Quirk Box Design studio though, WFH is in full effective and all our commercial creative projects continue as they would.
Artwork for Grazia’s Cover. Contemporary artist Jayesh Sachdev.
How are you balancing life and work at home during this period?
Domestic chores take up a LOT of time. But it’s a regular work day after. Calls, Online meetings, Design. And Home workouts in the evening. Improvising in the absence of equipment.
I show up for Google Meets and Zoom calls with Design Unvis, Podcasts and use the weekends to have my own fun with Facetime shoots and plenty of drawing.
How has this affected your flow and plans?
Design has not been affected. Yet. It’s certainly affected the launch of my Resort Wear 2020 line. Travel plans that were on the cards, have all disappeared.
For enquiries contact Jayesh Sachdev: jayesh@thequirkbox.com
Website & @jayeshsachdev @thequirkbox @quirkboxdesign on Instagram
Before you go – you might like to browse our Artist Interviews. Interviews of artists and outliers on how to be an artist. Contemporary artists on the source of their creative inspiration.
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