Speaking to artist Hormazd Narielwalla about his exhibition at JP Hackett

Continuing through the hot pink reception area to the boutique’s rear drawing room, it's immediately noticeable that every wall panel features a different piece of Narielwalla’s work. The artist sits in the centre of the room and, above his shoulder, there's a piece composed of purple, pale grey, and dark blue – angular blocks of colour form a singular shape with a complex outline.

“If you look closely, you can see a musician playing the flute,” Narielwalla says. The shape sharpens into focus: a rounded head to the centre, slightly tilted to meet the flute. Hands and arms supporting the instrument, with a body, seated, below. Narielwalla explains that the Modernist values that inspire his art – abstraction, emphasis on materials and experimentation with form – led him to explore the dance and music movements that were similarly influenced by Modernism. Narielwalla clarifies that his art is not led by a strong personal agenda. Rather, his foremost guide is the curiosity that leads him to explore and engage with diverse historical periods, movements and cultures. 

“Whenever I travel, I always look for paper references,” says Narielwalla, pointing to another piece that follows similar musical inspiration, though, this time, in the form of a guitarist. The figure’s head is angled down, focusing on the body of the guitar; its collection of circles comprises smaller squares and rectangles of aquamarine, pale blue and another deep, vibrant blue. This deeper blue is Majorelle Blue, a defining colour of Moroccan culture. “When I visited Morocco, there were textiles everywhere, but no paper. So I brought back the dye and tinted the paper myself.”

The colour encapsulates a sense of place, with its atmosphere and spirit enlivening the piece itself. Narielwalla’s desire to communicate the feeling of a place similarly inspired the pieces he created for Hackett’s boutique in Mexico City: in each of these 24 works, a single bright blue traces sweeping, curved lines, reminiscent of Mexico’s waves and the geometric patterns of its Aztec forebears.

“To me, luxury is the idea that something was made for you,” notes Narielwalla – an idea he encapsulates in the commissions he creates for Hackett from bespoke patterns that tailors have, in turn, created for their clients. “I suppose seeing my work here is quite a full-circle moment,” he smiles.