Stories  That Grow



About | Project
About | People

    Publication

    But, Have You Met a Tree?
    White Wash
    If the Wild could Dream
    The Bucket List
    Who can Terrify an Elephant?
    Alert in St Cruz

    Artistic Installation
    What is Wild to the City?Beneath The Surface
    Undheka- Dekha
    The Forest Remembers
    Imprints
    Shedding Fear
    The Magic of the Mundane
    Unnatural Selection
    Between Still & Storm
    Found In My Pocket
    Uncoiling The Coiled
    Trustfall
    Can You See Me?

     Moving Images

    The Weight
    Symphony: Echoes of Inheritance
    The Change I Share
    In Their Element

    Class Gallery

    Unnatural  Selection

    Textile Based Installation


    Stories with | Nirjesh Gautam
    Artist-Designer | Diya Thomas
    Concept Note

    This project explores nature’s quiet resistance and ability to survive amid growing urban neglect. Inspired by Nirjesh’s poems on the Najafgarh River, the work reflects on how natural ecosystems persist and adapt even in polluted, human-altered environments. Water becomes a central metaphor—both a mirror of human actions and a silent victim of their consequences. The piece reimagines the urban landscape not as a space of total dominance but as one of unexpected coexistence, where resilience emerges in overlooked corners. Nature is portrayed as reactive yet persistent, subtly reshaping itself around man-made intrusions. The work provokes reflection on the viewer’s complicity in this transformation—how everyday choices contribute to the slow distortion of ecosystems. At its core, this project questions the boundaries between the artificial and the organic. It does not present nature as separate from the urban, but entangled within it—transformed, fragmented, yet enduring. An audio layer featuring Nirjesh’s voice reciting the poems adds emotional depth, immersing the viewer in the work’s atmosphere.


    About

    Diya Thomas

    Diya Palathinkal is a practicing artist whose work delves into the essence of reality, offering a unique lens through which to view the world. She works across a range of mediums—including leather, paints, Indian ink, charcoal, clay, stitching, embroidery, patterns, and weaving—constantly expanding and refining her techniques.

    Her practice often centers on the theme of destruction, using it as a way to unravel and reconstruct the fabric of existence. Through this process, she explores questions of identity, deconstructing it and creating art from the discoveries that emerge.

    A graduate of the BFA Contemporary Art Practice program at Srishti Manipal Institute, Diya is eager to continue her journey in art and design. She is driven by a belief in art as a powerful force for change—and is committed to contributing to that soft power through her work.  







    Nirjesh Gautam

    Nirjesh Gautam is a researcher at the Centre for Urban Ecology and Sustainability, Ambedkar University Delhi, whose work broadly includes observing and understanding nature within cities—how ecosystems persist, adapt, and interact with human life in urban settings.


    © 2025 Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology and the individual artist-designers of the works. All rights reserved.
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