The most mundane things that inspire me. Day-to-day life, whether at home or at work, is what influences my work. Research and further study help throw light on my subject of interest. Once the inspiration is ignited, the rest is automatic. If satisfaction comes from the detailing in my sculptures, the organic process and the creativity involved give my work its thrust. You never know what comes out in the end! The Indian system of marriage has impacted my work — Art marries Design, a show I did in London in 2012, was based on the same. I’m also very inspired by the city I live in. In Jaipur, you see craft everywhere: colourful turbans, kumkum bindis, beautiful lac bangles, mehndi, rangoli patterns and the wood turning process. I want to give a contemporary form to everything that has its roots in Indian society. The chai culture in India inspired me to create the sculpted furniture that’s part of my latest show at the Jehangir Gallery, “Tea Stories”. Tea is an ice-breaker in Indian society, across socio-economic classes. Tea is everyone’s language — well given and well received. It is omnipresent. Gestures like inviting someone over a cup of tea, friends sharing a “cutting” — all of this is fascinating to me. I could stand at a chai stall and drink tea, all the while watching the vendor prepare the brew, serve it, chat with his customers. The forms of the kettles, the burnt-out effect on the metal of the teapot all of this influenced me. Tea helps you build new relationships, conversation is fluid and time stretches on. I used lacquer as my medium to express this fluidity and stretch. I’m more comfortable working with flexible materials; using common materials in an uncommon way. Tar, for instance, can be used very creatively. Bronze, ceramics and glass are the other media I enjoy working with and I try to build a playful relationship with all of them. I admire the work of Sebastian Brajkovic, Vincent Dubourg and Pablo Reinoso. Subodh Gupta’s work, I feel, is a bridge between Indian art and rest of the world. In India, the common man finds his inspirations and disappointments in small things. People may live in small spaces, but they do want art. I believe in art with utility, form that follows function. Design ought always to have a purpose.
