DECOR | 20th Oct, 2025
Jenjum Gadi’s brass sculptures bring history and personal stories together, proving craft can be both timeless and fresh.
For most people, the pandemic was about banana bread and online workouts. For Jenjum Gadi, it was the start of something far more enduring, an artistic journey that swapped fabric for brass, and fast fashion for lasting memories.
Hosted at the iconic Bikaner House, Delhi, from March 28 to 31, 2025, ‘Transcendent Memories’ marks Gadi’s second solo exhibition. This new body of work isn’t just art for art’s sake, it’s a deeply personal, skillfully technical, and culturally layered series that explores the weight of memories, both personal and collective, quite literally cast in metal.
From Tirbin to Brass
Born in Tirbin, a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh, Jenjum Gadi grew up surrounded by nature not screens. His childhood was spent climbing trees, catching fish, and playing in vegetable gardens rather than parks. This upbringing embedded in him a respect for nature that continues to seep into his creative work today.
Though he first made waves as one of the Northeast’s most celebrated fashion designers known for blending traditional weaves with contemporary cuts, Gadi’s creative heart has always wandered beyond the runway. When the pandemic slowed down the world, it gave him the time to reconnect with artisans from his hometown of Rupa and reimagine the traditional brass casting techniques they mastered, but with an unexpected twist.
Instead of human figurines or religious idols, Gadi envisioned fruits. Mangoes, pineapples, pumpkins, each one painstakingly crafted in brass, reflecting both the nostalgia of his mother’s garden and the enduring quality of metal. It wasn’t easy. Neither the artist nor the craftsmen had attempted three-dimensional fruit forms before. The process involved detailed wax mold-making, trial and error, and over 18 months of fine-tuning before the brass sculptures took their final, polished form.
Brass as Canvas: Reimagining Pichwai Traditions
What makes ‘Transcendent Memories’ more than a display of shiny fruits is its layered storytelling. Alongside the fruits, Gadi weaves in Pichwai art, a classical Indian painting style known for its depictions of Lord Krishna and tales of nature and devotion.
Instead of canvas, however, Gadi’s Pichwai narratives unfold on brass panels, created using intricate repoussé and chasing techniques centuries-old methods of hammering and engraving metal to bring out textures and details. It’s a bold reinterpretation that brings together two distinct crafts into a seamless dialogue, reflecting both nostalgia and spirituality through a fresh, contemporary lens.
Each piece in the collection feels like a snapshot of memory, culture, and craftsmanship, preserved in metal that, like the stories it tells, will age but never fade.
The Technical Backbone: Repoussé, Chasing & Metal Casting
Let’s talk about serious craftsmanship.
Repoussé and chasing are not new to Indian artisans. These metalworking techniques have been around for centuries, adorning temple doors, jewelry, and religious artefacts. What Gadi does is push these ancient methods into unexplored terrain.
The process started with sculpting precise wax molds of each fruit, capturing their every bump and texture. These molds were then cast in brass, which itself is a material rich in history in India, often used for ceremonial objects and temple crafts. After the casting, artisans meticulously hammered, chased, and polished the brass, giving the pieces their fine detailing and organic appeal.
And here’s the genius: brass doesn’t stay the same. Over time, it tarnishes and changes color, almost mimicking the life cycle of real fruits. Through this natural process, Gadi’s sculptures embody both permanence and the passage of time, creating a subtle, ongoing dialogue between material and memory.
A Broader Metal Legacy And Why It Must Be Preserved
India has a long-standing legacy of working with metals like brass, bronze, and copper. From the lost-wax casting traditions of Bastar to the finely detailed repoussé work in temple towns, metal has always been more than a medium, it’s been a cultural symbol, a storyteller, a craft that ties us to our heritage.
Gadi’s work is a reminder that these crafts don’t belong in the past. They’re living, breathing traditions that can evolve with contemporary narratives. His fruits and Pichwai panels aren’t just art, they’re evidence that India’s mastery over metal continues to thrive, adapt, and inspire, provided we value and invest in its preservation.
The Takeaway
Jenjum Gadi’s ‘Transcendent Memories’ is not a nostalgic throwback, nor is it an art show that simply rehashes tradition. It’s a thoughtful, technically rich, and visually compelling body of work that invites us to see familiar materials and stories in new ways.
It’s also a call to recognize the invisible hands- the artisans, the communities, the skills that make such works possible. In an age of fast everything, Gadi reminds us of the beauty of slowing down, crafting with care, and letting art, like memory, take its time.
GLOSSARY:
✹ Repoussé
Hammering metal from the back- basically metal massage therapy with results.
✹ Lost-Wax Casting
Melt wax, pour metal, lose your mind- it’s ancient, messy, and pure magic.
✹ Pichwai
Traditional Krishna fan art- but make it temple-core and full of cows.
✹ Brass
The cooler, moodier cousin of gold- ages like fine design.
✹ Tirbin
Gadi’s hometown where inspiration grows wild, not curated.
✹ SCROLL-STOPPER: PICHWAI ON METAL
Forget flat canvas. Gadi’s Pichwai isn’t just painted- it’s sculpted with repoussé drama and devotional precision.
✹ NO 3D RENDER, JUST 3D HANDS
Every detail on those brass fruits? Crafted. Not clicked. Welcome to the pre-AI universe.
✹ DESIGN CREDIT: NATURE + NOSTALGIA
Creative director? His childhood. Production manager? Craftsmanship. Budget? Time, patience, and enough brass to weigh down a gallery wall.
✹ DELHI GOT THE SHOW. WE GOT THE STORY.
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BONAFIDE is a digital design platform that goes beyond aesthetics. We spotlight the thinking, intent, and craft behind
meaningful design- not just the finished product. From architecture and interiors to product design and independent
brands, we cover work that challenges the norm and pushes ideas forward. Our content is visually sharp, editorially
bold, and purpose-driven. We ask better questions, tell smarter stories, and put creative minds in focus. If you’re
building something original with substance and clarity, we’re the platform that gets it, and tells it like it is.
BONAFIDE is a digital design platform that goes beyond aesthetics. We spotlight the thinking, intent, and craft behind meaningful design- not just the finished product. From architecture and interiors to product design and independent brands, we cover work that challenges the norm and pushes ideas forward. Our content is visually sharp, editorially bold, and purpose-driven. We ask better questions, tell smarter stories, and put creative minds in focus. If you’re building something original with substance and clarity, we’re the platform that gets it, and tells it like it is.
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