S&S JOSHI BATIK
Since 1975
THE ART OF INDONESIAN BATIK
Batik, one of the most vibrant and the richest medium of textile printing in the world, can be presumed to be at least 2000 years old. In its present form it is renowned all over the world for its beautiful designs.
The art of doing authentic Batik having its roots in the land of Indonesia involves a complex process of creation. Every piece of cloth is designed individually. In the words of Satish Joshi, “Batik is an art with unlimited possibilities. I feel it needs a lot of patience and imagination while working with it as you can’t see during the process of creation what will come out when your art piece is ready.” This is because a cloth goes through multiple stages like drawing designs with molten wax , colouring, applying wax , dyeing, boiling in water before it comes out as a marvelous expression to an artists imagination.
The designs are not printed as it is usually done on textile goods, but drawn on the fabric by applying liquefied wax with a specialized tool. Fine decorative lines and dots are drawn by hand to form designs. These wax designs prevent the covered parts of the fabric from being penetrated by dye-stuffs, so that they will remain uncolored. After this each design motif is hand painted separately. The following stage is the dyeing, which is done by steeping the cloth in a dye-bath. These processes are repeated more than once depending upon the requirement of a particular art piece to be made. That means the batik piece you hold has gone through an arduous process where it has been colored, waxed and dyed several times. To finish the batik process the now colored fabric is soaked into hot boiling water to remove all the wax from the cloth. After removing the wax, we get an exciting batik printed cloth.
OUR STORY
Experience the art of authentic Indonesian Batik. We are a family of artists based in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. At S&S Joshi Batik, we create handmade batiks for you to cherish as ‘Piece of Art’.
SATISH JOSHI
Satish Joshi adopted Batik as the medium of his hobby of painting and in 1975 it became a full time job for him. A graduate in Science he came to know about this medium and as time moved found it to be the best one to give expression to his creativity and imagination. He worked constantly to develop Batik as a rich medium for paintings. A novel technique of colour blending hitherto unheard in Batik has been developed by Sri Satish Joshi which brings three dimensional effects in Batik and shading effects like water and oil colors.
Drawing and painting had been the childhood hobby of Sri Satish Joshi and slowly it became a part of his life. A British couple Mr. Tom Francis Shaxson & Mrs. Annabell Shaxson guided and promoted his art and encouraged him to go to Indonesia. Satish consider them to be his ‘God father and mother’ for their important place in his life for flourishing his creativity and artistic sensibilities. Then British Council (Bombay) Head Dr. Vere Atkinson also supported him much in his efforts to improve his art skills.
In 1988 Satish Joshi went to Indonesia and studied Batik in the famous Balai Besar Penelitian dan Pengembangan Industri Kerajinan dan Batik’ (Institute for Research and Development of Handicraft and Batik Industries), now known as Balai Besar Kerajinan Dan Batik, Yogyakarta. During his stay he studied different styles of Batik from different part of Indonesia. The long awaited journey to the homeland of this ancient art and his own background of Indian culture made his work unique in itself with delicate workmanship using Indonesian technique and designs inspired from the rich cultural heritage of his own country.
Sri Satish Joshi did his solo exhibition in Yogyakarta (1988), Handicrafts Centre, Singapore (1988) and then in Basel (1991). His works adorns the environs of private collectors in U.K., U.S.A., Venezuela, Lesotho, Indonesia, Switzerland and India.
In his words “Batik is an art with unlimited possibilities. I feel it needs a lot of patience and imagination while working with it as you can’t see during the process of creation what will come out when your art piece is ready.” This is because a cloth goes through multiple stages like drawing designs with molten wax , colouring, applying wax , dyeing, boiling in water before it comes out as a marvelous expression to an artists imagination.
Along with his artwork Satish started doing fashion designing and is a renowned name in the field turning apparels made with Batik as ‘pieces of art’.
Awards : State Award for Textile Printing (1976-77), Award in Kalidas Samaroh(1977)
SHALINI JOSHI
Shalini manage the production unit of our workshop since 2000. As a batik artist her forte is handling colours and development of shades. Shalini has a keen sense of proportions since she took up sketch work during her college years. Perhaps she got it from her father who himself is a great portrait artist working with oil colours for his paintings. Later she got married to Sri Satish Joshi and has been working with Indonesian Batik for her artworks since then.
Moments with former Prime Ministers of India
Satish Joshi's work featured in FABUK Magazine inaugural ISSUE 1, 2016 (London)
Comments for Satish Joshi's work from Yogyakarta Exhibition (1988), inaugurated by Mrs. T.T. Soerjanto, renowned Batik specialist of Balai Besar Penelitian dan Pengembangan Industri Kerajinan dan Batik, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
