Weaving illusions
SHAILAJA TRIPATHI
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Industrial refuse finds a unique expression in the hands of Colombian artist Claudia Hakim.
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Stitching nuts Claudia Hakim creates a tapestry using the industrial waste.
C laudia Hakim looks fragile but the size of her sculptures and the material she negotiates with are enough proof of her tenacity. Likewise, her sculptures give out an impression of being dainty and tensile, their size notwithstanding, but that again is just an illusion. In the armlet sculpture — one of the many sculptures exhibited in the new hall of National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), earmarked for contemporary art — the Colombian artist has used 7,000 nuts and bolts and it weighs 200 kg. The exhibition has been organised to celebrate the 50th year of diplomatic relations between India and Columbia.
Hakim's liking for the industrial material meets her experience in weaving — she was a textile designer — which finally blends with the penchant for jewellery to create the 17 works showcased in the current show titled “Signs of Skin”. With such a deep-rooted tradition of jewellery in India, Hakim thought it's only appropriate that her creations borrow from it.
Creating illusion
Rings, bolts, screws, nuts, springs, metallic sheets and steel mesh find their way into arm rings andmagnified necklaces. The motifs of paisleys, in some of them, create the effect of weaving. While there are some definite shapes, some are unstructured and abstract. A loose form built with rings is suspended from the ceiling. The wave effect creates the illusion of movement.
“I like to create illusory effect. You feel that it can move but when you go and touch you realise it can't. The malleability is so important for me. Being so heavy, all this has travelled here on boat. I wanted my works to hint at history and the time and spaces they have passed through. The rusted bolts and nuts reflect that along with the deliberately achieved movement effect,” says Hakim.
The works have a tactile quality inviting people to touch and feel and that's how Hakim wants it. “I want them to touch it and even move those which are lying loose,” she says.
Starting off as a textile designer, she was inspired to use industrial waste while attending a workshop. Beginning with concrete and resin, she finally moved on to work fulltime with nuts and bolts 12 years ago. But her sensibilities as a textile designer are still intact. “Every bolt I put is like a stitch in a textile,” she says.
“Signs of Skin” is on at NGMA till November 30.
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