Art & Making

A space for experimentation and the simple joy of creating.

Igniv moves across forms, materials and disciplines — fashion illustration, paintings, shells and gold leaf, hand built pottery, eco printed cloth and painted jewellery.

A model on the runway in a dark silk sari with multicoloured patchwork panels

Fashion archive

A pendant built from pale scallop shells arranged as a hibiscus, flecked with gold leaf

Shell art

Four unglazed stoneware vessels on a wooden table, seen from above

Pottery & Ceramics

Painting of a hummingbird on a teal background

Paintings & Drawings

Fresh petals and flowers scattered across a white cloth before bundling

Eco print textiles

Many pairs of hand painted wooden disc earrings laid out on a metal surface

Painted jewellery

Handmade soap bars and hearts on a green glazed dish with a sprig of rosemary

Soap & candles

Glass jars filled with red chilli preserves

Preserves & Sauces

A model on the runway in a dark silk sari with multicoloured patchwork panels — Patchwork sari, on the runway

The back of a runway sari showing a large appliqued elephant motif on the palu — The elephant palu, from behind

A model turning on stage, patchwork sari catching the light — Raw silk, turning

Illustration of a sari with an elephant motif palu, annotated with fabric notes — Elephant motif palu — the drawing

Illustration of a raw silk sari with patchwork elephant motifs and a banded border — Raw silk sari, patch worked

Illustration of a layered chiffon evening dress with a pleated net tail — Evening wear, chiffon and chamois silk

Illustration showing the back of an evening dress with a beaded and sequinned stole — A stole of beads, fixed to the dress

Illustration of a white linen jacket worn with an ice blue corduroy skirt — Office wear, linen and corduroy

Illustration of a cropped linen top with brass studs worn with khaki capri pants — Cropped linen, brass studs

Illustration of an off shoulder floral top over a rust pencil skirt — Off the shoulder, in bloom

Illustration of a blue crop top and sage skirt worn with a wrapped headscarf — Wrapped, tied, banded

Illustration of an asymmetric one shoulder tunic over wide legged trousers — One shoulder, falling away

Illustration of an orange sleeveless top with an olive pencil skirt — Saffron over olive

Illustration of a saffron yellow shift dress with beaded trim, front and back — Saffron shift, beaded at the hem

Illustration of a strapless dress with a gathered bubble hem — Bubble hem, gathered

Illustration of a strapless dress with a boned corset bodice and pleated panel — Boned bodice, pleated panel

An unshaded pen line study of a corseted top with flared trousers — A line study, before colour

A model on stage in a cream jacket and textured pink trousers — Cream and rose, under stage light

A model on stage in a red top and striped trimmed corduroy capri trousers — Corduroy, striped at the turn

Models lined up on stage at the close of a fashion design competition — The finalists, at the close

A 2006 Sunday Observer fashion page covering the Fashion Designer of the Year semi finals — Sunday Observer, October 2006

The lower half of the Sunday Observer page, showing the ten named finalists — Ten finalists, named in print

A pendant built from pale scallop shells arranged as a hibiscus, flecked with gold leaf — Scallop hibiscus, gold flecked

A five petalled shell pendant edged in gold leaf, hanging from a silver chain — Five petals, edged in gold

A three petalled ivory shell pendant with gold leaf, on a fine silver chain — Three petals, ivory

A pendant of gilded cowrie shells arranged as a star, on a gold chain — Cowries, arranged as a star

A blossom of white shells set on a piece of coral, with a silver bail — Set on coral

A round pendant of pale blue resin holding shells and gold leaf — A tidepool, held in resin

A brooch of overlapping shells glazed in cream and soft green — Glazed bloom

A brooch of pale shells opening like an orchid, with a green glazed leaf — Pale orchid

A shell brooch with a golden bead at its centre and a green glazed stem — A bead at the centre

A brooch of ribbed cockle shells scattered with gold leaf — Cockles, scattered with gold

A brooch of two speckled cowrie shells caught with gold leaf — Two cowries, caught in gold

A small cluster brooch of fan shaped shells and a green glazed band — A small cluster

A mother of pearl dish painted with seagrass, set with scallop shell flowers — Seagrass, painted on pearl

A gilded shell dish painted with fronds and set with scallop shells — Fronds and scallops

A pearl dish with painted seagrass and two shell blossoms — Two blossoms, on pearl

Four unglazed stoneware vessels on a wooden table, seen from above — Four vessels, still unglazed

An unglazed square clay tray with a starfish and coral relief in one corner — Starfish, pressed into clay

An unglazed bowl and relief decorated tray waiting on a worn wooden table — Waiting for the kiln

Handmade red clay dandelion pen pot in use on a work desk — Dandelion pen pot, in use

Moulded red clay forms resting in a teal fluted bowl — Moulded red clay forms

Handmade red clay pierced dandelion dish with intricate cutouts — Pierced dandelion dish

Side view of a red clay dandelion pot showing the pierced details — Dandelion pot, side view

A pierced red clay dandelion pot catching the light — Pierced dandelion pot

A red clay tray featuring gilded lotus leaves decoration — Gilded lotus leaf tray

Glazed ceramic face plate surrounded by handmade vessels — Face plate and vessels

Four finished ceramic pieces resting on the workshop table — Four finished pieces

Ceramic greenware kept under plastic wrap to dry slowly — Greenware, drying slowly

Handmade ceramic plates lined up and drying on the workbench — Plates drying on the bench

A newly thrown ceramic pot held gently in one hand — Freshly thrown pot

Detail of the trimmed foot ring base of a ceramic vessel in hand — Trimmed base detail

Painting of a hummingbird on a teal background — Hummingbird on teal

Landscape painting of a meadow in the wind — Meadow in the wind

Painting of a loris and squirrel in the night forest — Loris and squirrel

Pen and ink drawing of banana leaves from 1999 — Banana leaves (1999)

Portrait painting featuring a puppy and ixora flowers — Portrait with puppy and ixora

Portrait painting with red and pink roses — Portrait with roses

Portrait painting with sunflowers — Portrait with sunflowers

Shell canvas painting of beach figures — Beach figures

Shell canvas painting of foxglove spires — Foxglove spires

Shell canvas painting of poppies with dripped stems — Poppies, dripped stems

Shell canvas painting of poppies on a turquoise ground — Poppies on turquoise

Shell canvas painting of a seagrass branch — Seagrass branch

Watercolour painting of a glass bottle and ceramic jug — Bottle and jug

Watercolour painting of figures by the water — By the water

Watercolour landscape of a paddy field and scarecrow — Paddy field scarecrow

Watercolour portrait of a figure wearing a hoop earring — Portrait with hoop earring

Painting of waterlilies on a gold ground — Waterlilies on gold ground

Panoramic painting of a waterlily pond — Waterlily pond panorama

Fresh petals and flowers scattered across a white cloth before bundling — Petals, laid out

Coral dyed cloth carrying the ghostly prints of leaves — What the leaves left

A length of coral eco printed cloth patterned with pale leaf shapes — Coral ground, pale leaves

Many pairs of hand painted wooden disc earrings laid out on a metal surface — A morning of painting

Hand painted wooden earrings showing butterflies, irises and poppies — Butterflies and irises

Hand painted wooden earrings with tulips, lilies and marigolds on dark grounds — Tulips, lilies, marigolds

A pair of pink hand painted earrings showing blossom on a branch, on a woven mat — Blossom on a branch

Handmade soap bars and hearts on a green glazed dish with a sprig of rosemary — Rosemary, on a green dish

Sunflower moulded soaps resting in a teal fluted bowl — Sunflowers, moulded

Pale soap rounds and hearts on a white dish beside a cut aloe leaf — Aloe, freshly cut

Translucent soaps set with dried citrus slices on a white plate — Citrus, set in soap

Wrapped soap bars speckled with dried herbs on a cream tray — Speckled with herbs

Deep blue soaps with pale stars set into them, on a white plate — Stars, set in indigo

Three tinned candles poured as roses, on a blue cloth — Roses, poured into tins

Fluted beeswax pillar candles resting on a blue floral ceramic tray — Fluted beeswax

A glass candle topped with dried orange, cinnamon and cloves, held in one hand — Orange, cinnamon, clove

Chevron patterned candle tins, one open to show spices set in the wax — Spice, set in the wax

A market stall of handmade soaps, candles and hair oils at a Sri Lankan craft fair — The stall, on market day

Shoppers browsing a handmade bath and body stall at a Sri Lankan market — Market day, Colombo

Glass jars filled with red chilli preserves — Chilli preserves

Jars of chutney served with fresh lime — Chutney and lime

Dessert glasses layered with fruit and sauce — Dessert and sauce

Fudgy brownie squares dusted with sugar — Dusted brownies

Plated dessert garnished with sweet preserves — Plated sweet preserve

A range of homemade preserve jars displayed on a tile — Preserves collection

Bottles of homemade sauce catching light in a window — Sauces in the window

Festive spice jars prepared for Christmas gifting — Christmas spice jars

Fresh waffles served with rich golden syrup — Syrup and waffles

“Every material has already lived a life before it reaches my hands. My work is simply the next chapter.”