With A Magpie’s Pleasure | Pria Muzumdar

With A Magpie’s Pleasure: Juxtapositions of Washi, Various Papers, & Wee Treasures

This is a show about pairings. Mono prints using oil-based inks and silkscreen prints created with dyes in sea-alginate paste are collagedwith beads. These beads have been collected from glass artisans in the Czech Republic, Ghana and the Far East. The range of artwork includeslarger abstracts and smaller whimsical animal prints and collages.Dots are predominant in my pattern making; I recollect the fine tie-dyed (shibori) marks called “chungadi” in Southern India on many of mymother’s favourite saris. I have clear memories of hiding behind the “pallu” draped over her shoulder and watching the sun stream throughfine hand-spun cotton. I am still mesmerized by these simple graphic dot patterns.While pairing these magical memories with my collection of textile fragments, sea glass, and beads from around the world, I imagine I amputting together the pieces of a puzzle. I problem-solve like a delighted magpie, challenging my visual brain to sift, pick and pull together.

Pria Muzumdar is an avid printmaker and patternist with a deep interest in world textiles and folk art. She has exhibited in numerous group and solo shows in the Greater Toronto Area, and has been a member of the Propeller Gallery since 2015.Pria’s work is in private collections in India, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom, and of course in many Canadian homes! Amongst her biggest fans are young children and their families, who take a particular interest in her story-evoking whimsical animals and professionals who are drawn to her larger abstracts and mixed media collages. Pria studied at the National Institute of Design in India and graduated as an Associate of the Ontario College of Art. A longtime artist educator, she also holds a Master’s in Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and a Master’s in Child Study from the University of Toronto.