Ambika Hinduja collaborates with Edelweiss to create a baby grand piano inspired by autumn foliage

Ambika Hinduja is showcasing her latest sculptural design at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Dubbed ‘Harmony of Nature - A Concerto of Art’, it features a gold leaf enveloped baby grand piano with nature as its muse. The piece was envisioned and privately commissioned for Sangita Jindal, patron and great supporter of the arts. Inspired by the autumnal leaves, the sculptural instrument was brought to life by Goldfinch by Edelweiss, who carefully constructed Hinduja's intricate design.

Unveiled in October 2023, the piano - an acoustic Edelweiss Goldfinch baby grand piano, hand built in the UK with self-play and manual play options - informed Hinduja’s work from the beginning. This accompanied her studies on a range of foliage in a variety of colours, to help inform her work to recreate an ideal leaf-like structure that unites nature, sculpture and technology. 

Ambika Hinduja’s ‘Harmony of Nature - A Concerto of Art’

Warm toned materials add to the autumnal feel, with the baby grand encased in Bronze, and clad in 22.5k moon-gold leaf, further mimicking the textures of nature. The design is whimsical, with the sculpture casting a silhouette of a curled dried up shape, creating movement of a leaf gracefully falling from a tree.

The semi-abstract design gives an illusion of its appearance, with its true form being revealed when the fallboard is lifted and displays its keys, held open by a delicate twig-like support when the piano is in play.

From above, you can see the inner workings of the piano, with an exposed frame and sound board protected by an invisible mesh. From this view you can see the true form of the design, with fine curvature and indents. To finish, a matching 22.5 karat gold leaf stool in the shape of a small pebble to complete the piece.

With the design uniting sound with sculpture, Hinduja reflects:  ‘The piano was designed as an exploration of where and how sound and sculpture converge. [...] Listen to the soft whisper of a falling leaf and the song of a moonlit stone. Rustling trees play a wild symphony to awaken the soul, their roots cradled in wisdom, ever ready to be shared.’

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