Interview with Saim Ghani — The Yellow Dot

Just like turning lemons into lemonade, Saim Ghani is turning India’s art world upside down with his avant-garde eye for fashion and stop motion art. Making him a constant on the radar of the Indian Fashion Industry today.

I recently had the pleasure of picking this 26-year-old Calcutta fashion grad’s brain to really dig deep and figure out what his inspirations, dreams, and visions for the future were and it is one heck of a journey.

After being involved in a serious accident with two of his close friends during his last year of fashion school, Saim’s life turned upside down; which from his point of view flipped it right side up. After tragically losing a friend and then having his own two toes amputated, he channeled his emotions into creating the most intriguing senior year graduation design project you've probably ever heard of. He chose the theme of amputation for his graduation collection. Yes you read right, amputation.

After having his two toes removed post accident, Saim struggled with phantom limb pain. Which simply put, is where a person still feels like they can feel their respective amputated part due to cross wiring between the brain and nerves. He channeled this pain into inspiration to make his final five garments, each representing different stages of amputation.

Having felt like this traumatic experience was a sign from God, a metaphorical rebirth of some sort, each piece he created was a unique tribute to these intensely emotional moments in his life. The purpose of these garments were not be wearable, but to stay true to his artistic spirit and life experiences.

As if we couldn’t be more fascinated by Saim’s artistic thirst, COVID lockdown this year allowed him the time and creative freedom to dabble in other forms of art like the stop motion images and elaborate graphic reiteration of existing images that spoke to him.

You can see his stop motion art reflecting the aspects of his experiences through layering of images, haunting themes filled with a strong sense of mythology, and pauses in time creating stunning images with such mysterious allure your eyes simply cannot look away. He even managed to capture our very own Devki Bhatt swaying in a field of flowers like a beautiful modern fairy as a special collaboration with label Saaksha & Kinni. The imagery shows sense of setting yourself free and breaking through all restrictions. He wanted it to show strength of a woman and also pay homage to glorification of Indian women in Indian Mythology.

In our conversation, I asked Saim where are things headed for him next. To which he answered, that he is planning to eventually have a clothing label of his own. He also dreams of setting up an exclusive art installation in India and live and breathe his artwork in a swanky, yet eerie art studio adorned with black walls, blood slides, and test tubes as decor. Sounds pretty straight forward no?

Saim Ghani Art Work for Saaksha and Kinni Collaboration

As our conversation was coming to a close, I asked Saim if there was anything in particular he wanted to have heard by people who see his art, to which he said:

“Art shouldn’t be taken literally. It shouldn’t be judged using mundane criteria. I also want everyone to remember to never chase the numbers, chase your ideas and what moves your soul.”

There couldn’t be a better closing line that this.

Written by Divya Kondaveeti

Edited by Devki Bhatt