Between an art gallery and a workspace: tosh designs an artistic lair for studio Prahaa in Vadodara

American modernist painter Georgia O’Keeffe’s words — The painting is like a thread that runs through all the reasons for all the other things that make one’s life — embody what it is like to lead the life of an artist.

It is no different for mixed media artist, Prachi Shah who resonates deeply with the painter and her words. Serving as both her gallery and workspace, Studio Prahaa in Vadodara becomes an oasis for Prachi’s art imagined by Mumbai-based practice tosh.

This 900 sq ft art lair is in fact the first design adventure of tosh’s co-founding duo Forum Shah and Vidhi Malkan. A revival of a 40-year old one-bedroom space  into an open layout art lair, this otherworldly haven overlooking the lush of Champa trees, is meant to create and resonate.  The artist’s openness to all avenues of art conjuncts with this space that fosters the creation and thought behind the work of an artist not restricted by mediums.

“She imagined a space that transports into another world where she can wonder, reflect and create,” muse the design duo.

Art exhibits and minimalist workstations…

The entrance engraved with Georgia O’Keeffe’s words, opens to a Mediterranean sanctuary entrenched with natural luminosity displaying works of art. The studio’s design bifurcates into an exhibit space and a workspace. Canvases are displayed amidst quintessential Mediterranean elements of plastered walls, terracotta flooring and French door detailing. The intricate detailing of the vintage switchboard and brass screws is the varnish over this large canvas.  

Surrounded by towering windows and a reading nook (also a library unit) is the workplace that leads to Prachi’s main workstation, a marble sculpture crafted in Indian granite. The minimalist space is also imbued with a dining space featuring woven jute chairs and a micro concrete table top. This microcosm of a space is dominated by earthy tones and bedecked with Prachi’s signature teal.

Finally, a room for everything and anything art-related is furnished with soft board panels. The powder room and storage space continue this terracotta tale. 

A space filled with natural light where thoughts and paintbrushes were free to flow was Prachi’s main raison d’etre with the space. “For the artist studio, we dived deeper into the life of the artist, her body of work, the cultural context of the city of Vadodara and imagined this space as an oasis filled with calmness, creativity and authenticity. We strived to create an immersive artistic experience through this venture,” say Forum and Vidhi. 

The venture’s name, Prahaa is a Sanskrit word that translates to prefix. And what is the studio, if not a space narrating the genesis to completion of an artistic endeavour?

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