The Problem We Set Out to Solve

Disabled artists can only paint as far as they can reach

Mouth and Foot Painting Artists in India are extraordinarily skilled. But the brush they hold in their foot or mouth can only travel as far as their body can reach — usually about A4 size, around 21 by 30 centimetres. To paint anything larger takes them weeks, sometimes months of physical strain. By then, many customers have moved on.

And they need help even at the size they can manage

Even after the painting starts, there's another barrier. The artist needs a helper sitting with them throughout — to hand them the right colour, to change dirty water, to keep the palette within reach. That helper requirement takes away the artist's independence. Nadeem Shaikh told us: "If I could change my own colours, I wouldn't need anyone with me."

What this means for traditional Indian art

India's traditional art forms — Madhubani, Warli, Pattachitra, Tanjore, Gond — survive because real artists still paint them. When a disabled artist who carries one of these traditions can no longer reach across a large canvas, or needs constant help to paint anything, the world loses more than a painting. It loses a living connection to a tradition.

SPARSH is what we built to give back to disabled artists what their bodies have taken — reach, time, and independence.