Unni Kanayi’s residence at Kanayi, near here, is where his latest sculpture is taking shape. The nine-foot statue of the late K. Karunakaran, Congress leader and former Chief Minister, is getting final touches at the impromptu studio in the house.
The sculpture, made of terracotta, is the first and most important stage of the sculpting assignment he has received from the Thrissur Corporation.
After completing the terracotta work, the mould of the late leader’s figure shaped in terracotta will be made with plaster of Paris before the final stage of making a statue in bronze or other medium.
Three months ago
Mr. Kanayi began the work three months ago.
“The Thrissur Corporation is installing the statue of the late leader at Padinjarekotta,” he said. Every day, the late leader’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal looked over the progress of the work on WhatsApp, the social networking site, and made suggestions,” Mr. Kanayi said.
Karunakaran’s son and Congress MLA K. Muraleedharan and Ms. Venugopal would visit his residence to take a look at the statue in a couple of days, he said.
Photos
Mr. Kanayi said that before he began work, he collected scores of photos of Karunakaran to understand and recreate his face. Several people were visiting his house to see the work in progress, the young sculptor said.
Mr. Kanayi has sculpted the statues of Rabindranath Tagore, Ezhuthachan, Vaikom Mohammed Basheer, and Gandhiji, which have been installed in various places.
