Bhubaneshwar
What?
A series of 3 artworks developed for Starbucks’ first store in Orissa celebrating Bhubhaneshwar’s religious cognizance and ethnic vibrancy.
Size: Starbucks Mermaid - 5.8 feet (H) x 9.5 feet (W)
Wall Frames - 39 inches x 39 inches
Quantity: 2 frames
Location: Starbucks at Esplanade One Mall, Bhubhaneshwar, Orissa
Why?
As a conceptual art, we wanted to translate our
artworks of the
• iconic Starbucks mermaid,
• a painting made on jute cloth &
• an embroidered art on Ikat fabric
in the visual direction taking the inspiration of
“Jhoti Chita”, a rural Oriya mandala art.
Jhoti chita a traditional Odia white art mostly shown in rural areas of Odisha. It is made from rice paste and with a piece of cloth surrounded with a stick is used to create beautiful patterns.
We used a bio-degradable Jute cloth with a hand painting of a traditional Jhoti Chita mandala and Ikat fabric (a world-famous local weave of Orissa) embroidered with another Jhoti Chita mandala, which were encased in a distressed finish wooden frame.
Jhoti Chita as an Artform
Colour Palette
Process
The standout feature of the store; the 10 feet Siren (Starbucks mermaid) weighing over 100 kgs, hand crafted in metal tells the story of Starbucks’ history, mission and values. As a way of expressing the positive, free-flowing form of the Greek mythological creature, we reinterpreted the siren to find a unique way to bring the unity of coffee and Jhoti Chita to life. The Siren painted in white with accents in red, conforms to the colors used in this mandala art.
The Siren is not just Starbucks’ logo. She represents their spirit of bravery and care as a company. She is strong, benevolent, beguiling, intelligent, wise, optimistic and inquisitive. We redrafted this siren into our own version of a more curvy silhouette signifying the fluidity of the coastal state of Orissa with a direct correlation to coffee by making her hold branches of coffee botanicals in a similar hand-drawn render.
The Display
