Chinni Swamy

Shop all Chinni Swamy products

I always loved painting and have a formal education in art. As an artist, I've always been attracted to colors and, to me, patchwork was as good as making a collage.

I started working with village women in Tamil Nadu, where I was born. I taught them patchwork and appliqué, and we all learned from each other. This led me to build my workshop.

"One of the uphill tasks was to help the women artisans understand the positive motive behind the creation of the workshop. We have 160 women and we hope that the number will grow much larger. My dream is that our workshop will become a veritable force to contend with and our work will become a brand recognized everywhere.

"If we use different colored fabric for the same design, the visual appeal changes completely. I think this is what I like best about this art. Nature is my biggest source of inspiration.

"It has been a very satisfying experience as the poor village women whom I have taught are now able to earn regular wages. Basically, they are all employed and are now able to lead a comfortable life."