Pages from a Dream Journal
Hermès first Artist Windows in India
Installation views of window 1 and 2
Installation dimensions within each window: 8 ft X 6 ft X 2.75 ft
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation view of window 3
Installation dimensions: 9 ft X 8.3 ft X 2.5 ft
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation view of window 1: products relate to Equestrian Mettisage
Installation dimensions: 8 ft X 6 ft X 2.75 ft
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation detail, window 1:
Lotus leaves with Galop d’Hermès parfum
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation detail, window 1
Lotus leaf with Galop d’Hermès parfum
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation detail, window 1
Partial ‘page’ emerging from ‘water ‘ with images of the Lotus leaves with Galop d’Hermès parfum
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation view of window 2: products related to Solar Energy
Installation dimensions: 8 ft X 6 ft X 2.75 ft
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
detail: illuminated silk and lace crane, window 2
Installation dimensions: 8 ft X 6 ft X 2.75 ft
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation detail, window 2 : floating cherry blossoms
Installation dimensions: 8 ft X 6 ft X 2.75 ft
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation details
The dream journal illustrating window 1
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation detail, window 2
floating page with Hermès products
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation details, window 2
floating page illustrating crane with twilly
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation details, window 1
floating page illustrating landscape of window 2
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Niche
18″ X 18″
Niche
18″ X 18″
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Niche detail: floating words and miniature page
Niche size: 18″ X 18″
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Niche detail: bird on ring displaying Chaîne d’ancre
Niche size: 18″ X 18″
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Niche detail: floating words
Niche size: 18″ X 18″
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation details, window 3
floating page illustrating the window it is in (window 3)
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
detail of Bird, window 3
thread and silk
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
detail of Bird with Hermès mug, window 3
thread and silk
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Installation details, window 3
organza applique brickwork
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Details -Magnolia tree, window 3
lace, silk, dyes organza, wire
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Details -Magnolia tree, window 3
lace, silk, dyes organza, wire
Photo credit: Shashank Tyagi
Process: Sketches for canoe in window 1
Process: Sketches, models, samples, studio set ups for window 1
Process: Sketches, models, samples, studio set ups for window 1
Process images: Birds
Process images: Birds
Process: studio set up for window 2
Detail window 2
Process: cherry blossoms for window 2
Process images: studio set up for Window 3
Process images: studio set up for Window 3
Process images: on-site set up for Window 3
This installation of glowing silk and lace birds, ethereal plant forms made of thread, flickering fireflies and objects in suspended animation create the ‘Dreamscape’ for the Hermès products showcased in each window, bringing to 3 dimensional life the images (of the same plants, products and elements) found on the floating pages of a dream journal.
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Article published in VOGUE magazine
Your first look at Hermès’ debut collaboration with an artist in India By Aditi Bhimjyani,
Artist Sumakshi Singh handcrafts Hermès’ window display. Here’s everything you need to know about it:
On October 11, 2019, the Hermès store at The Chanakya in New Delhi unveils a unique window display to a host of its patrons with an elegant cocktail evening. This is a first-ever collaboration with an artist for a window display in India. The Hermès 2019 theme, In Pursuit of Dreams, is presented with a perfect spin of whimsy by Indian artist Sumakshi Singh in her characteristic handcrafted style.
Globally, window designs are often interminably linked to a brand’s image and Hermès understands that like no other. Their windows consistently impeccable, and they’ve been inviting designers and artists to collaborate with them through the years. Perhaps the most legendary ones were from 1978 to 2013, when Tunisian artist Leïla Menchari was solely responsible for the stunning windows of the Maison Hermès flagship store on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, with her Moroccan souk themes, hammered steel Kelly bags and green crocodile Hermès clutches for undersea grottoes, all crafted to her specifications and never for sale. Another exciting window design was that of the newly renovated Hermès boutique on S Marco 1292 in Venice. Launched in 2018 with an elaborately curated ‘artist window’ by artist Luca Nichetto of Nichetto Studio, it was called Pure Imagination and inspired by Willy Wonka’s eponymous song: a treat in blown Murano glass of varying geometry, like a candy box interspersed with bags and scarves.
Singh’s installations at Hermès in New Delhi, titled Pages from a Dream Journal, are created with threadwork and lace, combining solid forms with mirages and a sort of soft, dreamy reality. The landscape is a little surreal, with floating plants and trees made with white thread and wire, illuminated with gentle flickers of light—like fireflies in a capricious narrative.
The first display, Equestrian Mettisage, is that of a wood and organza canoe gliding through serene waters, with the iconic Hermès printed scarf as sail. A glowing lace and silk bird, LED fireflies, embroidered backlit mountains and lace-and-fabric plant-forms feature as objects in suspended animation. The second display, Solar Energy, is a splash of bright—with Hermès’ fashion accessories like enamel cuffs, CDC and Clic H in orange and yellow. A swing caught in mid-air and incandescent fireflies appear in the distance. In the third display, H Story, white blossoms and a magical stairway are at the fore. The tie set tart platter plays the moon while the men’s echarpe is a billowing curtain. The gavroche and ties are like a kite taking flight. Various accessories like the Hermès tea cups, the Picotin bag, a leather cravache, Torsade sandals and the stirrup shaped Galop d’Hermès perfume bottle are littered around the designscape with an almost precise nonchalance.
Each display is conceptualised almost like a page from an ongoing story, which is both poetic and meditative. The audience (especially the passerby) is invited to imagine themselves as a character in this narrative and grab a glimpse of what Hermès is about—and, while they’re at it, discover the various Hermès objets hidden between the lines.
Singh has presented her interactive installations, paintings, drawings and sculptures at solo and curated group gallery and museum exhibitions in India, China, USA, Canada, France, Italy and Switzerland. She has also taught for five years at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and lectured at Oxford University, Columbia University and The Chicago Humanities Festival. Besides working with other museums and colleges, she has mentored residencies for the Victoria and Albert Museum and TheWhyNotPlace 2010 and 2011. Scroll ahead for a closer look at the Pages from a Dream Journal showcase at Delhi’s Hermès store.