HYDERABAD: There is a zen like calmness around Jagadish Chinthala. Seated on one of his favourite chairs in his studio, he traces the bursts of creativity he experienced here. The L-shaped room in the parking complex of his apartment in Banjara Hills feels like a rainbow of colours. Walk around and the models of animals, landscapes, couples and women stare at you from different corners. His tools, acrylics, easel, measuring tapes, marbles (to get the chin shape), an apron and spectacles are strewn all over three tables. While his collection of books on art, architecture, and textile lies in one corner, an old refrigerator occupies the centre of the hall. Facing this studio is another space, which is more like a workshop where preliminary work gets done.
The 22-year-old studio has witnessed Jagadish’s growth as he carved a niche over the years. “I lived in Delhi and US. I came back to Hyderabad for my mother. Now I travel to the US once in three months,” he states. His regular workday is from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and he reveals he can work non-stop for seven days a week. “This is my second home. There is no place like a studio. I travel frequently and meet different people. The mind absorbs so many things but the studio is where one’s thoughts find a direction. There is clarity in how one should go about it,” smiles Jagadish and adds, “ Studio lo pani cheyyamu, tappassu chestaamu (‘We don’t work in a studio; we meditate here.’”
Papier mache, cardboard and pipes don a creative avatar in Jagadish’s hands. “I wanted to try something different with landscapes so I made three-dimensional collages of them,” he states, pointing to a wall. In another corner, is an unfinished series on NRI couples. “I’ve been to a lot of NRI parties in London and am amused by their demeanour,” he smiles. The two sets of models showcase the behaviour of such NRIs when they are in India and abroad. Jagadish speaks of another series, of animals, which is still not complete. “The studio is like a laboratory where we try to research. In research studies, some explorations are not complete. It is a good reminder to take stock of where we have been and where we want to go.” he signs off.
