Recycling, Indo-Italian style

I still have letters from ex-lovers, faded like pressed flowers. I re-imagine their sweetness every time I open that ribbon-tied stack. Photos of my schoolmates, college mates and ex-colleagues plaster a darling photo-wall I had made, way before it was in vogue.

I found a kindred spirit in Diana Linda. An Italian who travelled the world doing her bit for victims of war or calamities during her stint with Medecins Sans Frontiers. Six years of living and working in Mumbai made an indelible impression on her and after she resigned from MSF, she began expressing her creative bent through fashion and home decor products.

Using embellishment techniques like decoupage and collage, she breathes life into things that would normally have been discarded — from old trunks, to booze bottles, milk jars and picture frames. I couldn’t take my eyes off the sexy transmogrification of a good ol’ Dalda ka dabba into a unique mood lamp. Its rectangular leather shade is set off the circular base, with little vignettes of Bollywood peeking out from coin-sized discs punched in the leather for a heightened effect when the lamp is switched on.

Her pieces spell fun and nostalgia that can best be described as ‘flower power meets Hindi cinema legends’. She even crafts zany papier-mache jewellery, incense holders and to-die-for, one-of-a-kind handbags. My favourite bag is all indigo velvet, with yesteryear sirens smiling coquettishly at me from the front pocket and little micro bells and beads that catch the light or give my restless hands something to tinker with.

Titled Spreco, ‘waste’ in Italian, her exhibition of spray-painted articles convey the message of recycling ably. Spread out over the welcoming aangan of this quaint cottage-store, is definitely anything but a waste of time!

The Spreco exhibition is on till October 31 at Tribal Route — A Handcrafted Store-Y: Cottage Numbers 18, 22 & 29, Aram Nagar 2, JP Road, Versova, Andheri (W), Mumbai; Tel: 9967058847/48; Prices range from Rs 60 for a coaster to Rs 10,222 for an aluminum trunk.