French sculptor Christine Margotin has revisited childhood in her recent works of life-sized bronze sculptures, that are on exhibit in a show titled “Being a Child”.
The artist, who has been living in Delhi since 2009 and works both from her studio in Delhi and from Jaipur, where she gets her bronze pieces cast, is mainly a self-taught sculptor.
She has divided her works into three categories — children’s games, children’s attitude and children’s message. Through these, she reminds the viewer of carefree childhood memories that are bound to fade away with time or are suppressed somewhere in our sub-conscious minds.
The artist, in her realistic sculptures, has explored the dialectics between childhood and adulthood, and has even made sculptures of people engaged in actions that inspire joy, compassion or reverie.
The “children’s games” category has a series of sculptures showing children playing games and a child’s ability to be happy without needing a reason to be.
She has used colour-painted bronze to create these works.
The “children’s attitude” series has been created as a result of various attitudes the artist observed over time that are the signs of the underlying qualities of children. These include qualities like trust, goodness, and playfulness.
“Children’s messages” is a group of artworks made on canvases bring forward messages about childhood.
The exhibition is on at the Hungarian Culture Centre, Janpath A-1, near Claridges Hotel, till May 15 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
