Interview with Artist/Designer Sourabh Gupta // Chatting Away
It was a Friday evening in the dead heat of the humid summer in Brooklyn, New York. I was visiting with my husband at his work; they were celebrating their new office space and the launch of a new company by throwing a roof-top bash that lasted all night. The place was filled with music as people enjoyed each other's company, drank, ate and laughed. In the midst of all the festivities, I experienced one of the most thoughtful and humbling conversations I'll never forget.
I was graciously given time to sit and chat with Sourabh Gupta. If you haven't already heard of him, he's an incredible artist and designer known for many works, one in particular being the designer behind creating the stunning flowers that adorned Tory Burch's gown at the 2019 Met Gala ball. You know, only one of the biggest fashion events of the year. He was also featured in the New York Times and The New York Times’ style magazine called T Magazine for his work and outstanding abilities (which you can find here and here). This year, he was featured by the Instagram Design Team in a short video called Paper Blooms with @Sourabh_Gupta_Design where viewers can see up close and personal just how he creates his floral designs.
Although very accomplished, what I appreciate the most about Sourabh are his humble beginnings growing up in India, and the way his eyes and tone of voice lit up when he spoke, full of passion and excitement. His expression was of someone who not only spoke of things he was knowledgeable about, but of someone who truly loves what he does.
Our conversation starts off with the two of us finally settling in one of the conference rooms of the office around 9 PM, far away enough from the party where we could hear each other, but close enough to still hear the music and the laughter and be interrupted by friendly pets that roamed the office hall. We sat in the glass-walled room on a couch where Sourabh started off our conversation by showing me one of the flowers he created by hand.
"So that's a lady slipper?" I ask, as I look at beautiful images of the flowers on his phone. For a second, I'm confused because I think I'm looking at pictures of real flowers, but am in shock to learn that the flowers are actually his creations, made out of paper.
"Yes. It's just a flower, but I'm just showing you (my process). I have to create experiments and understand the structure of the flower. But these are just paper experiments."
I couldn't believe it. Every detail of a real life flower was present in his paper creation. The resemblance was uncanny. I sat there marveling at his work and he explained in great detail about the process of creating a flower using different mediums and the length of time it can take. Sourabh also talked about his upcoming projects and some of the things he was presently working on at the time.
During our 45-minute chat, I not only learned about Sourabh's career path, but his passionate view of his artistry, how being called "too much" actually made him realize he was just right, and of course, how he landed the gig to create one of the most stunning dresses to ever grace the Met Gala red carpet.
What is your career background?
My career background is architecture. I was working on a luxury boutique hotel in India and then went to Nepal to work for the earthquake relief as an architect and artist. And then I started working on my own projects. That's where I started getting scrap pieces of leather and fabric and started making bags.
So you started making bags first?
Yes, all my bags on Instagram, and the one I carry myself is made by me. So I make my own things, including shoes. Then I started making pottery and furniture. Then I came here to the US on a scholarship with Parsons and studied interior design before I dropped to work on my own. But there was a bit of a financial situation that I couldn't afford to support my own financial living expenses here while working at school. I was good at school. I finished successfully, but then I had to drop out. Now I'm supporting myself by doing all these different kinds of work.
I'm self-taught. I was always making or was always attempting to make life more beautiful and comfortable. I was giving gifts to people so they could decorate their homes and make their lives more comfortable by sitting in a nice chair or sitting in a room that has art in it.
“My whole experience has been how life can be more beautiful and more useful. How can we do more different things? Whatever it takes, if it takes building a plane, if it takes making a chair, if it takes making a painting, I do that.”
Now I'm at a point where I'm looking at the big picture and I'm hiring experts to execute what I see because I want to be able to just create big ideas and just work with them. But I can create my own prototype and I can show you quickly how I see it and have you work on it with detail.
What's the best idea you've had that's been the hardest to execute?
Currently, I've been moving from one place to the other in the last few years. I moved from India to Nepal, from Nepal to America, so it really took me some time to ground myself and do it. Now, I'm coming back to doing big houses and public architecture. I don't have all the resources right now, but I collaborate with people who have resources because I have ideas. That's my main focus.
I don't think I've ever had that moment where I thought it would be difficult to execute something. I moved here with just a 30-pound bag and a backpack because on my flight I wasn't able to bring anything more. I worked with materials so I had to build a studio and start building up stuff again. And in all that time, I didn't have machines so I started working with paper so I could start and finish everything in my own studio. And then these paper flowers somehow took off and then Tory Burch asked me to make something for the Met Gala and then the New York Times reached out for the same story that you're making and then these high-end clients...It just seemed like the things I made out of need and necessity started becoming something more noticeable.
But as soon as I get my ability to work more I want to collaborate with other people who are building sculptures and buildings.
“I can do a lot on my own, but I want to work with the best in the world so I can learn from them. For me, I want to work with people who are making a difference.”
The challenge with me is that people thought, “You do many things, but what are you in the end?” My answer was that maybe I'm finding the right thing, but it wasn't that I've always had the right thing. The right thing was creating a desire to create and it was always expressed in different forms.
I don't need to be good at just one thing. All those things are good because they're helping me create a bigger more comprehensive picture.
How did you start creating flowers?
My mentor took me to the exhibition at the Met Museum which was by a Japanese designer who did these crazy dresses that were very architectural and very beautiful. There were flowers on these dresses. My mentor said, "Aren't these beautiful?" and I said, "I actually used to make these flowers in India as a kid." And he said, "No way!" Then he took me to a store in downtown New York where there were these paper flowers made by a woman in the store. The flowers were like $900 for a small pot.
Did that blow your mind?
That's the thing. I was making these things that I would just throw away in the drain because nobody ever needed to use these things. And here are these things that are actually beautiful, but have clients buying them! So two or three days later it was my birthday, he brought me the first set of papers and materials and I just started making flowers again. As soon as I started making them, people started asking for them.
Behind the Design of Tory Burch’s 2019 Met Gala Dress; Pictures from SorabhGuptaDesign.com
So you made Tory Burch's most recent dress she wore for the Met Gala (2019) and it was beautiful! Can you tell us how this came about?
The designers saw my flowers on Instagram. One of them had me send a portfolio to them months prior to the Gala and I didn't know why. So I gave them the portfolio and he said to me in an email, "You're a genius. You're very talented," but then I didn't hear anything back. I was also working on my own stuff. Then just a month before the Met Gala, he reached out to me and said, "My boss would like to meet you. Can you come to the office?" I show up there and they tell me they're thinking about making this dress for Tory Burch's wedding and they wanted the gown to look as if the dried flowers had been pressed between glass, and so I did that. They made me do different samples. They sent me a sample sheet and some flowers were made bigger, some smaller. Then they would tell me, "Okay, this is the one we want." But we did a lot of samples at Tory Burch. I would take materials over there and make samples there. Then we would go through materials and stretch the fabric and I would be able to tell them "Oh, this is how it's going to look''. It was a lot of hands-on work which I love.
How many flowers did you make for the gown?
They asked me to make 320 in 3-4 days.
So you made a little over 100 flowers a day?!
I had some help to cut things for me because I couldn't do it on my own. I didn't really sleep in those days.
How did you finally find out that the dress was going to be used for the Met Gala?
They weren't very clear that they were going to use it. They had four different people creating stuff for them and then they would choose. Then two days before Met Gala, I had a feeling they were doing it. And then the day of the Met Gala, my mentor called me and he said "Oh, your flowers are on the dress!” Then the dress was all about the flowers. It was amazing for me to see it. Some people come to New York for this thing so that they can be able to do something for the Met Gala. So I was very glad.
It's the biggest fashion event of the year!
Yeah, even in India they knew it. I didn't even know Indian people followed the Met Gala and as soon as they saw that it was me who had done the flowers, I got calls from friends that I haven't spoken to in 10 years and they said, "You did that?" I said, "Who watches Met Gala in India?" and they said, "We do!" Everyone does and everyone knows everybody's dresses.
Tory Burch at the Met Gala; Picture from SorabhGuptaDesign.com
So I looked at your website and I read one paragraph in your About Me page. I thought it was so passionate the way you spoke about your craft. I asked Gedalya if you wrote that and he said, "Yeah!" And I thought, "Oh wow! He's a writer too? He's a true artist!"
Yeah, I'm deeply interested in the dialogue of art, design, and architecture. I really had to fight my way through in my architecture school. They put me aside saying, "You're different. You're special." I took it as a compliment, but they meant it as "We don't understand you. You're too passionate. You're too much. We don't know what to do with you. So you do whatever you want." But in a way, I'm not engaging with them because they're already putting me in a special category. I thought then, "Well tell me how to be less much. Mentor me, guide me." They just didn't want to deal with me. So I had to really make an effort to talk about my work and then if I started talking about it, they would say it was too philosophical or that it was too much. For me, I liked talking about the idea and the feel of my work. That is why I started thinking, "Oh, I gotta talk about my work. I have to write about my work." And I love that dialogue and communication. It's very important. My designs aren't just created to look pretty. There's a whole entire process that goes into it. Some of my designs aren't even as great as a physical product, but the process is great.
I had to go to mental health counseling two times thinking there's something I had to work on myself. I didn't really have a mentor at school. Professors thought I did great and I was doing excellent, but I knew I had potential that was being untouched. I wanted an opportunity to know where I could use it.
I read a lot of architecture and I printed every single article I could on the mentor I have chosen, who is a London based designer. His work is incredible and I have books on him. I've listened to all of his interviews on the internet. For the first time in my life, I've found a person who tells me it's okay to be everything and it's okay to be "too much". He's proven how useful it is to be "too much".
There's that saying that talks about how people don't know how to handle your shine.
They just don't know how to treat you. They don't know what to call you. Even the New York Times called me up and asked, "How do we describe you?" I said, "Call me anything." By this time I'm like people will at some point know what to call me, but just call me whatever you want.
Sourabh’s Paper Cloud Light that he made for DIFFA; Picture from Sourabh’s Instagram
I call you an artist! Because that encompasses a lot of things!
Well there's this certain notion when you talk of an artist. People usually think, "Oh, design is different from art because design has to be useful." With art, you can hang it on the wall and be okay. The use is for beauty. Being an artist is such a broad category because if you create it, it's art. That's how I see it.
what is your creative process?
It depends on the product. I don't really know what the product is going to look like [in the end]. I do have an idea of how I want it to look. I never try to find a solution once. Even if I figure out how to make it, I will still figure out different ways to make it. So if I made a flower already, I will try five different ways of doing it again to see which one was the best way. I've already solved it once, so trying different ways gives me the confidence to try it differently.
What is it like being an artist in New York?
I really think this is where I fit the most. I felt like I never really belonged to a place, but here it's the perfect place. I am really inspired by people's work. Plus in New York, it's easy to work. I like it because for me, I never really had anything better than this. Also, there are ideas, there are people, there are resources, it's all here.
What made you choose New York?
First of all, I never wanted to come to America. I never thought there was anything inspiring for me here. My plan was always dedicated to going to Europe, especially London. Then I saw Oprah Winfrey and Nate Berkas and decided to be an interior designer. So I told myself that I would apply to the world's best design schools: The Royal College of Art in London, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Parsons School of Design, and Chelsea College Art of Design. I got into all of them. Then I got scholarships offered to me from American colleges first because they start their classes early in August. In Europe, they start their course in October. I had to respond and accept it very quickly. I wanted to go to RISD if I came to America, but people said,
“go to New York because that’s where you want to go in the end. There’s no need to go anywhere else, and they were right. ”
Looking back on your life now, what are 3 pieces of advice that you'd give to your younger self?
I think I had a beautiful life. One thing I always struggled with though was to find someone better than what I could do. I think it's always good to find someone who is better than you because once you learn, there's someone else to follow. That brings you to places in life that you want to go to. It's nice to be in the company of people who are doing the same things you are doing and better.
Second, you have to believe in yourself first. If someone has no faith in your work, and you think that's the only thing you're good at, just keep doing it. People will eventually turn around and see what you're doing. That's what happened to me and my family. They'd say, "We don't know what you're doing. We don't care what you're doing." But now, they say, "Okay, you were busy doing something."
Third, just have fun. I didn't have so much fun in my life. I was very serious about my work in art. I think now I'm starting to have fun with my work and it's becoming easier. I get more done and I enjoy it more. I think before, I was trying to prove something to myself because there was no one giving me permission that I could do that. Now, there's no need to prove anything. I know what I am and I'm only getting better at what I'm doing. So it's fun. It's easier to have fun with the work and I learn even more when I'm having fun.
You can change those if you want.
No! I like these answers!
I don't really give advice to anybody. I think I do that because everybody's life is so different. And their solution from their point of view can be so different. That's why I will always generally give a suggestion very gently. I'm very gentle when it comes to communication. "This is my idea, but you can do whatever you think is best."
I think your answers are broad pieces of advice that can still be applied to different people's lives. But just to turn it back around, what is the best piece of advice you ever received?
My professor said one time, "Your assignment is to sleep." I thought he was right. He would see that in two days that I would mask a whole room with work because I'd have an idea and I'd want to be able to test it. My process can fill up a whole room and then I'd bring the whole room to a presentation. He'd see it and would say, "Sourabh, your assignment is to sleep." I don't get enough, and I could always use more.
Do you still not get enough sleep?
I would love to sleep more, but I'm not. It just so happens that I am not getting the right solution and I have to work until I get it. Otherwise, I would not be able to sleep anyways. So might as well stay up and do one thing right.
I get it, I'm kind of the same way. Sometimes I'll take a cat nap after work and then I'm like, "Okay I'm up!" And it's 1:30 am and Gedalya is like, "What are you doing?" And I tell him, "I have to work because I'm not going to have enough time to figure this out!"
Yeah, I'm the same way. I take naps a lot. 12 is my favorite number, so I'll set an alarm for 12 minutes. For me, there's no sense of day or night. I'd love to sleep on time and wake up refreshed, but that's a bit of a fantasy right now. So what I do it I take naps, work for two hours, and then take another nap. I don't watch tv or anything like it. So for me, it's like a recreation. But I do love listening to other people, so sometimes I'll put on my iPad in the background, like a TED Talk or something.
Do you listen to any podcasts?
I started listening to different kinds, but I haven't found one that I've wanted to stick with. Instead, I watch a lot of self-help videos. I always have someone talking in the background when I'm working. Either Oprah Winfrey, Joe Dispenza, or Wayne Dyer. Since I was a kid, I was extremely into self-development. I read all the books I could get my hands on. When I was 9 years old, I started reading, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind. It's amazing. I really believe in that kind of stuff.
Just as I was finished listening to Sourabh answer his question, we had a couple of friends ask when we were coming back to join the party. We wrapped up our discussion and a rush of gratitude came over me as I quickly recapped the last 45-minutes of my life in my mind.
One of my favorite things in the world is sitting, talking, and getting to know someone, just one-on-one. I enjoy learning where someone came from and how they got to where they are now. I like learning about the trials that they faced and how they overcame them. With Sourabh, I think what stuck out the most was how he talked about being categorized for how passionate he was about creating something beautiful and useful to the world. I can recount times where someone tried to put me in a bubble because I thought differently about something, or because someone thought I was too passionate about an idea that they deemed me as “too much”. I feel inspired knowing someone who didn’t let that hold him back from moving forward and living out his true passion to share his gifts and talents with the world. And he’s only getting started.
As Sourabh and I walked out of the conference room and onto the dark rooftop, I was in awe of our view: a perfect lit up scene of the New York skyline. I turned to face those around me where my husband had his phone in hand ready to snap a photo of little ‘ol me and the talented artist who was more than enough.
