“An exchange of any sorts, either cultural or conceptual only helps enhance my creative capabilities,” she explains.

In due course of time she invariably outgrows a certain style, which infuses freshness into her work. It reveals new dimensions and opens up new possibilities. The new works are a natural progression of her creative journey.

Nehal Rachh’s work is an intricate overlap of sensibilities. The talented artist involves a mélange of contrasting elements in it, including the usage of mixed media like fabrics or wood in her sculptures, or graphic patterns in the ceramics. Treads, Stitches, maps and directions, open grounds and enclosed spaces, juxtaposed with each other, combine in unison as a whole.

An advertising graduate, Nehal Rachh’s studied art at Kanoria Centre for Art, Ahmedabad. Later she completed a degree in applied arts, from M.S. University, Baroda, and turned to ceramics. She grasped its nuances at the Golden Bridge Pottery, Pondicherry followed by a three-month residency in France in 2000. Starting with functional ceramic objects, she slowly attained versatility in her expression.

Reflecting on her art in general and ceramics in particular, the artist mentions: “A number of phases arrive and pass through my process of working. Sculpture, drawing, applied arts, functional pottery etc have all left their impressions on what I do today. And yet, every sojourn brings me back to clay with renewed vigor.”

Her drawings allude to the passage through time in one’s life, mostly unknown and unpredictable. Intuitive in nature, her drawings emerge with no preconceived notions. Delicate yet stark lines coupled with soft yet assertive use of colors alongside the prominent empty spaces build a flurry of activity in her pen & ink images.

Simple forms, often minimal, get amalgamated with an insurgency of color - barely visible washes and at times in rushes of vividness, which cuts into the linear quality of her paper works. They let her converse through time, imparting a new form and meaning to several shades of human emotions.