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A peek into Rakhee Shenoy’s work in her sunny studio

Studio Design

By Meenakshi Nair

Mar 17, 2025

A canvas in progress at Rakhee’s studio – Beautiful Homes

The artist weaves stories to life using an array of materials and colours at her Bengaluru-based studio

Rakhee Shenoy describes herself as a “textile-forward mixed-media artist.” Her work is intricate, experimental, and painstakingly crafted using a combination of textiles, weaving, embroidery, hand painting, and digital printing, done on archival canvas. From large pieces that taken up entire walls to smaller frames that resemble still-life paintings, each piece tells a story. We caught up with Rakhee in her studio in Bengaluru to get a glimpse of her craft, her process, and what inspires her.

Beautiful Homes: How did you get into the field of textile art and creating through textures?

Rakhee Shenoy: I’m a third generation creative, so it was a little hard for me to escape being an artist! My dad and grandad are artists and our dinner table conversations revolved around art, it was part of my childhood.

I like bringing texture and colour to life. To me, art that you can touch is more personal. Textile is a beautiful medium… if you think about it, from the time we are born, we are wrapped in fabric. During my foundation year at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, I took a course called “Introduction to Weaving," and I fell in love with the tactility and diversity of the medium.

That was the beginning. I decided to do my masters at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London and had a wonderful mixed media exposure. I got to work around people who specialised in print, embroidery, knitwear. Though I specialised in textile weaving; my time at RCA helped me transition from “textile designer” to “artist.”

Rakhee shaping a new artwork – Beautiful Homes — Rakhee at work on a new piece in her studio.

BH: Can you tell us a little bit about how an idea transforms into the final tapestry?

RS: For all my projects, my starting point would be a story inspired by shared and lived experiences, usually through objects and lived-in spaces, because they hold so much history within themselves. And I feel like that’s an instant connection with people. I spend a lot of time speaking to my clients to form a story, which translates into colour and texture, and then everything just comes together.

For personal projects, I pull from my own life: the people around me and even the political landscape. I don’t have very strong politically-driven work, but I try to bring it in subtly.

Heavy canvas artwork – Beautiful Homes — Most of the artwork is done on heavy canvas that is 350-400 GSM thick.

Thread selection for tapestries – Beautiful Homes — Thread selections for one of the tapestries.

BH: What comes next—material, texture, or colour?

RS: From the story, I move into the textural and colour aspects. Colour is very important. I understand what kind of colour palette my clients like, I also look at the interiors, where the piece is being displayed, and the size. I’ve done large pieces as well as work that’s as small as 18 x 16 inches. With custom pieces I have the freedom to play with the space and go wild—and the clients let me do what I like.

It’s also a lot of thinking through making: the evolution happens as I’m creating the piece. So, while I don’t necessarily follow a fixed pattern, it all comes together in the end.

BH: What kinds of materials have you have worked with?

RS: I’ve worked with a diverse array of materials. I’ve worked with banana fibre, recycled material, repurposed material, leather, and bio-plastic yarn, which is yarn made from ocean waste plastic.

Interplay of objects, memory & materials in Rakhee’s work – Beautiful Homes — Much of Rakhee’s work focuses on the interplay of objects, memory, and materiality.

The interesting thing about textiles is that there’s a lot of innovation and R&D going on constantly. So, learning what is happening, studying it, and picking from that is very important for me as an artist. I studied a branch within textiles called High Performance Textiles, so I combine that science with my art. I love both natural and synthetic materials. There is misconception that natural material is better, but this isn’t the case. Cotton, for example, takes a LOT of water to produce. Longevity is what matters, and saving textiles from ending up in a landfill.

BH: What is the most challenging fabric or textile you have worked with?

RS: Oh, it has to be the heavy canvases that I work on. These are 350-400 GSM thick, and embroidering on this can be quite a challenge because there’s very little scope for mistakes. So, when I start, I need to have a set plan, and need to be sure of what I’m doing. It used to be quite a challenge, but I’ve overcome that now and if there’s a mistake, I know how to work with it and make it a part of the piece.

Glimpse of a sketch destined for a larger artwork – Beautiful Homes — A closer look at one of the sketches that will become part of the larger canvas.

Hand-painted, digitally printed & embroidered canvases by Rakhee – Beautiful Homes — Rakhee’s canvases combine hand painting, digital printing, and embroidery.

BH: Where do you source your materials from?

RS: I source from all over. It’s not only part of my work, it’s become a passion project for me because I like to learn about fabrics. I’m constantly looking for new textures and materials that are innovative and fun to use. Ideally, I source all my materials from India. It’s fun because we have such a diverse array of material, from north to south, from natural to artificial. For example, you’ll find a lot of silk in the south and more wool in the north. I’ve even come across leather made from Areca nuts. I build good connections with mills and source what I need. The fun aspect of living in India is that you have such a mixed bag!

BH: How does your space influence your work?

RS: I like to surround myself with minimal colour and keep my space quite clean, since there’s so much colour in my artwork. Keeping the space white and neutral makes it easier for me to work with other shades and textures.

I do have wonderful flower arrangements around me at all times, which is a constant source of inspiration. I think nature is such a wonderful thing to get inspired by. There’s colour, scent, texture, dimension, and all of that heavily informs my practice.

All images by Abhinav_uv

A canvas in progress at Rakhee’s studio – Beautiful Homes — A work-in-progress canvas in Rakhee’s studio.

Display of art and books on console ideas - Beautiful Homes — The console displays a collection of knick-knacks, art and books.

Textile artist Rakhee Shenoy at her workspace – Beautiful Homes — Textile artist Rakhee Shenoy in her Bengaluru studio.

Beautiful hand painted flowers – Beautiful Homes — Hand-painted flowers that will be incorporated into the artwork.

Floral inspirations in Rakhee’s artwork. – Beautiful Homes — Rakhee’s fondness for blooms makes its way into her work.

The studio’s supply corner – Beautiful Homes — The “supply corner” of the studio.

Artwork with repurposed material - Beautiful Homes — Rakhee’s fondness for blooms makes its way into her work with the use of repurposed material.

Textile art by Rakhee Shenoy - Beautiful Homes — A canvas combining hand painting, digital printing, and embroidery.

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