Balance is the key word in Rahul Kumar’s life. Shuttling between the profession of a corporate executive and the passion of a potter, Rahul needs to maintain the equilibrium. He requires it all the more when he sits at the wheel to create sheer poetry in clay. His art can be sampled at the Magnolia’s Club, on the DLF Golf Links in Gurgaon which is hosting an exhibition of his sculptures ‘Engaging the Earth’. The assortment is drawn from different bodies of his work, but it doesn’t include the well-known miniature series. A series of 20 works called ‘Tranquil Flames’, earned him international recognition when it was auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2012. “Those pieces didn’t work for the construct of this space. Since it is not a conventional white cube space, I had to choose accordingly. I selected those which would fit into the natural surroundings,” says the ceramicist, who has had seven solos to date.
When Rahul started years ago, utilitarian pots were his style but it is no longer the case. “I spent 12 years doing utilitarian pots. I didn’t express myself through those as the function was the primary element there. The abstract expression entered the realm after the completion of Fulbright Scholarship to do my Masters in the US,” says the artist who works with porcelain and stoneware clay. Interestingly, Rahul’s repertoire continues to have pots and vessels. “Focus is on the form. Though the objects are vessel-oriented, utility has taken a backseat. How I fire, how I glaze is not important. Sometimes it’s a stony glaze, sometimes it’s matt, at times it’s glossy. The technique is also just a tool. What isimportant is the expression,” he adds. What’s remarkable is that the technique goes on to become an integral part of the expression in his work. The glaze ceases to be just an external element but merges with the form to accentuate it. And it holds true of all the glazes and colours Rahul works with in this series. “A major departure in my recent art practice is that it has come to have a sense of a story. It is a narrative.”
Coming back to his big break with Sotheby’s auctioning his miniature series, Rahul says, “It was a big thing for contemporary Indian ceramics too. I was invited to be part of an international show in London where my pieces were placed next to a very famous potter’s work. Since his works are really big, I thought may be if I do something opposite, I might attract some attention. So I made these miniature pots, all three inches tall and it worked. All the pieces were picked up. A curator from Sotheby’s was there and that’s how the pieces were picked up for the auction. It’s weird that even though India has a 5000 year-old history regarding clay, the scene of its contemporary expression in comparison seems dull. But having said that it has grown 25 times.”
‘Engaging the Earth’ is on at Magnolia’s Club, Gurgaon, till June 30.
