Sculpted Alive

Sculptures are not always the most common form of expression. With art being for everyone, sculptures, however, often remain restricted to the art gallery and not everyone can afford it. When the word sculpture comes to mind, one would always think that sculptures are made from marbles only but that is most definitely not the case.

An exhibition titled ‘Sculpt for Delhi’ by the Delhi Art Society was hosted at the India International Centre in the Capital with an aim to bring the sculptures to not just out from the galleries but in a more natural and accessible arena. The exhibition also defied the notion that sculptures were only supposed to be made from marble and saw a variety of sculptures were being made from twigs, metal and even paper.

Tree by Farhat Jamshed.

The artists at the 'exhibition are Bipasa Sen Gupta, Anjali Khosa Kaul, Asurvedh, Shovin Bhattacharjee, Suresh Kumar, O.P. Khare, Sangeeta Gupta, Farhat Jamshed, Neeraj Gupta, Shreedhar Mukul Panwar, Kavita Nayyar, Ved Nayyar, Madhab Das, Bhola Kumar who have created tangible forms and figures of smooth stimulations, gradual escalation of a symmetry and a hint of mystery. Artists showcase sculpture works of different shapes, patterns, textures, creativity, vision, strokes, themes, techniques, features, beauty and finishing that reflects artists’ feelings and emotions.

Neeraj Gupta the curator of the exhibition said, “This liberating form is almost a mystical practice and thus brings together ‘piece de resistance’ a dreamy amalgamation of form, features, ideations and ideals. He further says there is an old proverb namely, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”  “Over here, ours are very concrete, practical, quite rational concerns about our city. They on the face of it, don’t require old world wisdom,” he says adding, “True, and yet on another plane, even as we observe humanity on the streets and pavements going about impersonally, we also know that each man or woman is in some sense a person not merely made of practical concerns but unique, as well as socially distinct.”

Kavita Nayyar, one of the artists of the exhibition who created a layered lily pond, uses paper and combines them with acrylic sheets and zinc and molding them into sculptures of flowers on different surfaces. She feels that in the Capital, the numbers of sculptures that exist are very few and explains that the concept behind the exhibition was to ensure how sculptures could be accessible to the public. “If the Delhi government could provide some support, it would be great for us as we can then carry it forward,” she says.

She emphasises, “This event has been solely organised for the public so that they are sensitised about art. Art is a medium where one can get peace and when you see it you feel good as well.”  On the issue of art being politicized in recent times, she however has a very different opinion on the same saying, “At every stage, every artist tries to experiment with different works. Speaking on politics entering art, it will definitely come because we live in this day and age.” She believes that not everyone gets inspired by politics although there are some who do. She adds, “There’s nothing wrong (in politics entering art). After 100 centuries if that piece of artwork comes in the paper, at least the people will know what style of politics existed and the society during that time so in that case even if it gets politicised, I think it’s a good idea. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Sculptures in recent times can also be made from wood. Yes! Wood! It is definitely possible. Farhat Jamshed made a sculpture out of a tree, turned it upside down, the roots were used as hair, while the other branches were used to make a dog like sculpture making it seem a man walking with a dog. She says, “I love nature. Wherever I go, I look at nature and try to find wooden pieces, get them together and try to make some abstract art out of that.” She then goes on to say that she loves working with wood. She still is very excited about working with wood even today saying, “Wood has a lot of natural shades of its own. So you don’t have to put artificial paints on that. It tells you a story.”  “What suits my aesthetics, I try to make that. It doesn't really have a meaning”, she concludes.