The Deep - Handmade Book

By Mayur Vayeda and Tushar Vayeda

Two young artists from the indigenous Warli community in western India travel from the familiarity of home to the faraway land of Japan. Their fabulously rendered journey resonates with another journey, of discovering how water connects all life – from the humans on the surface to the creatures at the very depths of the ocean. The Deep is a reflection on what is known, and what remains unknown to us all.

Mayur and Tushar Vayeda like to adapt the Warli style of painting to render new material, to bring in different ways of depiction, as well as create new meanings and symbols. They strive to keep the basic grammar of the style intact and connected to its origins. But to paint things that are not found in a Warli environment and to do this brilliantly, in the Warli style, requires great skill and sensitivity. And it is here that the brothers demonstrate their artistic vision: open to the world, they are inspired by what they see, hear and experience during their travels. When it comes to rendering, they return to the basic grammar of their inherited style of painting, and adapt it to the unknown. In the process, they move Warli tradition forward, without diluting its essence.

This hand-bound book has been silkscreen-printed by hand on recycled cotton paper. The marbling pattern on each cover is unique, and made by capturing color on the surface of water at a moment in time.

Tara Books, silkscreen-printed, limited edition of 2000, 11.8 x 11 inches, 22 pages.

Tara Books is an award-winning, internationally-recognized independent publishing house made up of a collective of writers, designers and book artisans who favor a non-hierarchical mode of functioning, informed by feminism and other movements for social justice.

Founded in 1994 by Gita Wolf and based in Chennai, India, Tara Books runs its own print shop, employing over 25 bookmaking artisans on a fair-trade basis. Known for their handmade books, they use handmade paper and non-toxic inks to create numbered artists’ books, as well as art prints and unique stationery (we also carry their wonderful Flukebooks!)

They collaborate with a range of writers, artists and designers from lndia and elsewhere, and an integral part of their publishing is a pioneering engagement with the rich diversity of Indian folk and tribal art.