Time is what we make of it. It can pass by like a swift shaft of wind or crawl along, with each second that seems never ending. Artist Avijit Dutta, in his curatorial notes, feels that life is made up of several tiny moments like the grains of sand. He is curious to decipher how different artists interpret time and track the impressions that we, humans, leave on time.
Featuring only sculptures, Kalakriti’s new show ‘Sands of Time’ displays a repertoire of works from emerging and established contemporary Indian sculptors to explore ideas of people, communities, urbanisation and several other dimensions that attempt to understand the continuous flow of time using materials such as wood, terracotta, brass, bronze, paper and fibreglass.
Nagaland artist Akup Buchemhu’s work looks like a line of faces from a distance. Observe closely and the larger picture emerges – he’s presenting ‘a bloodline’ as proof of continuity of time and life. His work of wood is complemented by Jaladhar Naskar’s terracotta and wood panel displaying geometric shapes that represent urban and rural spaces.
Not all the imprints that we’re leaving on earth make for a pretty picture. A globe of 12-inch diameter, covered with a sheet of matchbox paper, speaks of the layer of pollution. Sayantan Samanta’s ‘Vivid landscape’ is a model of a construction site made of cement board, brass, fibre glass and clay, representing urbanisation.
There are other sculptures that focus on people. B Srinivas Reddy’s red and gold fibreglass work of a face is a striking one. Elsewhere, using slabs of marble on which is mounted a model of Delhi’s India Gate, artist Pappu Debnath bats for a return of innocence in his work titled ‘Innocence Demand’. A small form of a child and a bottle heighten his statement further.
Karl Anto and the unseen voice
Using terracotta to make tiny human figures with heads twisted in different directions to indicate conversation, and mounting them on a circular brass plate, Dhannjay Kumar mirrors people, community and conversations. In his mixed metal work, Narayan Chandra Sinha raises a toast to ‘The Persevering Man’, while Karl Anto with his trademark deep-brown work juxtaposes two faces to highlight ‘An Unseen Voice’.
Arjun Das’ work stems from a more personal space; in ‘Lost Lanes’ he presents a set of six kitchen tools that hark back to his years spent at the hearth and are metaphorical of the time we spend in the kitchens.
‘Sands of Time’ feature a larger line up of evocative sculptures and will be on view till June 29 at Kalakriti art gallery.
