Art has no boundaries, they say, and this artist from Brazil has proved that art materials can also be beyond the conventional paint and brush.

Isabelle Arciero-Mahier from Rio de Janeiro is in the City to work with the Sandur Kushala Kala Kendra tribal community for exchange of cultural ideas. Arciero-Mahier, known for her unique artwork from spider silk and silk cocoons, has been invited at the behest of the Ministry of Textiles, the International Sericultural Commission and the Silk Mark Organisation of India for the first time. The 51-year-old artist, who is in Bengaluru for the past four weeks, believes that India has a huge potential in the global sericulture market.

While her fascination towards creating art with natural fibres such as cotton and linen paper goes back to the early 90s, she stepped into the silk world in the early 2000s.

“I visited a silk museum in south France, named Musée de Saint Hippolyte du Fort, in 2001. There I met Brigitte Bataille, the curator. When I told her that I was interested to work with silk cocoons, she gave me a full bag of them and told me to create something out of it in nine months. I created a silk cocoon dress which was later exhibited at various silk museums,” she said.

Since then there was no looking back for Isabelle and she has been working with silk cocoons and various natural dyes. Apart from creating fabrics out of silk cocoons, recycled artworks, perfumed paper books, she also makes paintings with cocoons dyed with paint made of plants from Brazil.

During her free time, Isabelle travels around the globe to work with local communities and learn their art. Recently, she discovered spider silk when she went to Madagascar. Isabelle is also a textile designer, poet and curator of international exhibitions.

During her stay in the City, she and the members of Sandur Kushala Kala Kendra tribal community plan to exchange ideas on art and handcrafts related to the history of their homeland. Followed by that, a new “prototype” of accessories and dresses will be developed.

“I am looking forward to collaborating and creating silk works with Indian artists, designers and artisans,” she said.