Archana Ramchandran is the youngest ceramist at Bengaluru's first potter’s market, which is currently on at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. Archana doesn’t want to be called a potter because she doesn’t do wheel work. The 25 year-old artist likes to create objects in different shapes and sizes with her hand. With a background in product design from NIFT Delhi, Archana’s hunger for design innovation is understandable. Her planters, key chains, masks, toothpick holders and a three-piece sculpture of palms (a take on rock, paper and scissors) sold like hot cakes. There is hardly anything left out of the 70 pieces Archana exhibited at her stall. And she continues to receive queries and orders for her planters. For a ceramist who is just starting out, it is a big deal. “Most of my stuff was picked up by people who were in their 20s and 30s. I think they could relate to it. I want to do stuff which is utilitarian but edgy at the same time. A lot of it has come from my design background,” says the Bengaluru-based artist.
Studying design at one of the foremost institutions and then working at an interior design company, Archana never anticipated her move to ceramics. “I realised there was too much dependence on others and machinery. With clay, I found, the stuff I want to do is possible. I can do everything with my hands and the possibilities are endless. I love the pliability of the medium.” Since Archana loves working with her hands, she isn’t too fond of gas kilns, which are the rage amongst ceramists. “It gives you beautiful colour gradations and effect but it is technical. You have to keep controlling the oxygen release.”
At the moment, she doesn’t have a studio of her own. She rents the kiln at Clay Station in HSR Layout. “The potters market was my first physical sale. Prior to this I was selling through my FB page. When you start out, you don’t think of logistics, you just jump in. Now that I have got good response, I am planning to set up a studio soon.”
(Bengaluru Potters' Market is on at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath till August 28. For more details on Archana's work, visit her FB page Clay Anomaly)
