Artist Dia Mehta Bhupal discusses how art can heal during a pandemic

Artist Dia Mehta Bhupal has always been drawn to the spaces around her.

“From a young age, I have been inspired by architecture, not simply the environment we inhabit, but the spaces beyond, the environments both natural and man made that become a part of the daily landscape,” she says.

She and I spoke about “The Corona Quilt Project,” a community engagement initiative that called for everyday people across India to design their own quilted squares that were pieced together in public art collage installations. The project is presented by New York-based creative consultancy The Art Lab Studio, which was founded by Jaipur and New York-based entrepreneur Sana Rezwan, in collaboration with Healing Arts India.

Right now, The Art Lab Studio is featuring the next iteration of Bhupal’s quilting project in the form of a public textile art installation called “Stories of Healing in Cloth,” which is currently being shown at Nila House in Jaipur through June 30.

We discussed the current exhibition, her artistic inspirations, and how art continues to connect us as we reckon with a pandemic-changed world.

More from our conversation for Barron's here.