Description : My facther was a doctor practising in a small town in Madhya Pradesh. After travelling extensively over the hills, he finally settled down in Bhatapara.Because of his benevolent attitude and saintly nature, he was referred to as the Messiah of the Poor. He wanted me to become a doctor too. My maternal uncel was also physician, but he was interested in art and had a soft corner for artistic proclivities. It was he who saw to my admission to the Government College of Art in Calcutta.
Having had my schooling in a small place like Kharagpur, I did not at that time have any idea about the vast world of art. I was inspired by D.P. Roy Chowdhury's paintings and sculpture published in various magazines. In 1954 I joined the College of Art, choosing scrupture as my special subject. Through prolonged study of whatever material was available by way of books, journals and slides, I acquired an understanding of the development of art from realism to abstraction. The fifties in India wear dominated by abstraction. The fifties in India wear dominated by abstraction in painting and sculpture. Artists created abstract forms which they tended to go on repeating. formal innovation was given far more importance than the theme of a composition, to such an extent that works did not touch the heart of the viewer. I was in a quandary as to whether creation was the outcome of the feelings or not, and even had doubts about the works of renowned sculptors like Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Since my student days I had been attracted by the sculpture of Rodin, which had inspired me and encouraged me to work with similar themes drawn from the life around me. One of his utterances served as an ideal to which I aspired: "Be a man before an artist. " In a word, humanity is the basis of all art.
During my third year at College, my uncle asked me whether i could become a D.P. Roy Chowdhury or not. My answer was that I would like to be an Indian Rodin. As dreams cost nothing, it was wise to dream of the highest level of attainment. But whether one can indeed rise to certain heights or merely flounder depends upon one's situation and circumstances.
I started with realistic forms from nature like fossils, foliage, rocks and so on, and slowly worked towards abstraction, but came to the conslusion that abstruction has its limitations because it lacked the element of drama with its wide gamut of emotional expression. I wanted to create both static and dynamic composition : the human fingure in repose and action - a mother nursing her child; sleeping figures; childern at play; youths engaged in sports and acrobatics; animals and birds. These gave scope for enormous variety in compositions, and provided, I hoped, as much joy to the viewer as they did to me.
In the past, sculpture was an integral part of architecture, but in the last century or two, along with changes in architecture, it become isolated. I was keen to create sculptural forms that would enhance the beauty of public buildings, gardens, squares and courtyards. Accordingly I executed some designs suitable for such spaces. I felt that with the simplified shapes of modern buildings, scrulptural works should be seek, the extra mass being eliminated without the main form being eleminated without the main form being disturbed, just as the beauty of hedge can be seen only after the protruding branches and leave have been trimmed, without, without the stem and roots being affected. My themes were rooted in the Indian Express,as we find them in western art, to catch the light and shade of the surface. xxxxxxxxxxx When composing a small xxxxxxxxxxxxx of the need to achive a sense of mounmentality. when enlarged from the maquired, much technical skill is required, and so I consulted civil engineers to learn about structural stabilit, proper load distribution, bending, and the cantilever process, so that the sculpture is properly balanced, even when a part of it extends outwards. Sometimes the structure itself as a composition, which achives a lyrical or massive quality bepending upon how the material has been used.
After graduating from the Cpllege of Art, I needed a job and jointed the Geological Survey of India, and was frequently transferred from place to place. As a result, executing large-scale sculptures was out of the question. I tried to find a substitute for bronze for outdoor work, as bronze is very costly. In a showroom in Hyderabad, I noticed bath-tubs, basins, as well as helmets made out od moulds. It occurred to me that fibre glass could be used for outdoor sculpture. I studied the process, and produced in 1968 my first work in that medium. I do not know whether that material had been used before for such a purpose.
Three years later, I jointed the Government of India Mint, to look after the engraving department and to design coins, medals, and so on. I continued with my creative work at home. I did not have the temperament to seek commercial success or to strive for national recognition.I worked quietly, seeking inspiration from the simplest things in life. I have been very lucky in that my family members never distured me. Althrough I was a fairly high-ranking government official, I lived an austere, almost spartan, existence, occupying a large flat, bot not resorting to what others may consider to be essential modern amenities. My only asset and investment were my pieces of sculpture.
In 1985, I desided to leave the job in order to concentrate on my creative work.By good fortune, the Birla Academy in Calcutta sponsored a retrospective exhibition of my works, and I sold a large number of them. This success proved a turning-point in my life. I have not received any large commissions either from the government or from industrial firms, so the dream of becoming an Indian Rodin still remains a dream. But surely there is pleasure, and perhaps even a sense of power, in the dreaming of dreams.
|
|
