A woman in a meditative posture with a metallic bell ensconced in her heart and another feminine figure depicting Mother Nature with a lotus are the two sculptures of artist Roja Sanchana that have been selected for the prestigious Art Revolution Taipei (ART), said to be one among the biggest art fairs in Asia. The works will be showcased for the International Artists Grand Prize Competition 2018 to be held at ART in Taiwan. For an artist who started dabbling in art nine years ago, this recognition has come as a huge boost. Her work has been selected after a stiff competition from more than 4,500 entries from 85 countries. “Only 350 works were selected and I was pleasantly surprised when I received the mail from ART,” says Sanchana. A majority of the artist’s works veer around the theme of woman and spirituality. “Much of what is out here comes out of deeply personal experiences. My works are a creative expression of my experiences as a woman. There is an emotional connect,” she says.
A post-graduate in Fine Arts from Andhra University (AU) specialising in sculpture, Sanchana’s home studio at MVP Colony is a happy, contented space. A huge collage, in brown and timber shade, of M.S. Subbulakshmi, Rabindranath Tagore and classical dancers striking different poses greets the eye as one steps inside the studio. At a corner lie a few unfinished terracotta sculptures. Sanchana points to a sculpture of a feminine figure in yellow, standing on a lotus bud with the body entwined with branches of leaves and flowers. “This is one of my earliest sculptures which I did as a student of fine arts in AU,” she says and explained the connection between wisdom, knowledge and experience – something she had attempted to depict in the artwork.
Art, for Sanchana, is a meditative experience - a space where she feels connected with her mind and soul. More than a decade ago, when Sanchana was going through a phase of severe depression, art came to her rescue. “I was consulting a specialist to deal with my mental state and my doctor suggested me to pick up the brush and bring out my creative passion. I must admit that it wasn’t an easy task initially. When your mind is not at peace, it is difficult to find start anything afresh,” she says. But slowly, she began dabbling in art and thus started her journey as an artist.
Sanchana’s works have earlier been rewarded at various national level art shows. She won the Golden Kocoon Award for the best entry in the category ‘Ray of Hope’ organised by Kala Care Group at American Centre in New Delhi in 2015.
The following year, her sculpture of a lantern with fibre butterfly wings, on the theme of girl child education, won her the South Zone Bronze Award by Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation. Recently, a wood and fibre glass sculpture of a newborn baby girl cocooned within a bud was selected for the All Indian Women Artists’ Contemporary Art Exhibition in Chandigarh where works of 60 women artists from across India were showcased. Even though her sculptures typically revolve around the female form, Sanchana often incorporates flowers, animals, and inanimate objects to frame the central perspective.
Her next line of works will be on the medium of terracotta representative of women’s struggles and strengths.
