Angst goes deep into roots

"My attempt is to give expression to the life-long agony of an unwed mother and her child."

Unwed Mother, a sculpture byRiyaz Kunnamangalam. He carves out of rootscontemporary social issues.

Anyone who has cared to take a close look at the roots of an uprooted tree would have seen some familiar image carved into it by nature. Riyaz Kunnamangalam has gone one step further, to give sharper edge to the seeming images, breathing into each of his ‘creation’ a theme of contemporary social relevance.

On show in the State capital, the sculptures made out of roots by Riyaz bring out a man with a keen eye for detail and the ability to carve out touching images from material that would normally ignored by many.

His ‘An Elephant’s Tears’ represents the cruelty towards the animal by humans and ‘Unwed Mother’ represents the girls who are trapped in the hollow promise of marriage and discarded after being sexually misused. “My attempt is to give expression to the life-long agony of an unwed mother and her child,” says Riyaz.

Another touching sculpture is titled ‘A Betrayed Body’ which shows a deformed baby, a victim of unscrupulous use of endosulfan. Each of Riyaz’s carvings speaks a story. That he has chosen an unusual mode to express his views on social issues successfully is evident from the many who walk into his exhibition with curiosity and return reminded about many a burning social issue.