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Fulfilling the Desires
Apurba Nandi is a Baroda based sculptor who experiments with different mediums and doesn’t stagnate over any one medium for long .He started weaving his works in a poetic diction characterized by volume and effulgence. He restored to the language of metaphors and started experimenting with the dictum “less is more”. Aparna Roy catches up with the artist and chats with him. Excerpts:
Aparna Roy: Why did you take up Sculpture?
Apurba Nandi: I did a small course on Art in Jamshedpur where all the basic things about fine arts were taught. While visiting different studios in Fine Arts Faculty in first year I was attracted by the involvement in sculpture making process so I took sculpture.
AR: What are the sources of your work?
AN: My own environment, family condition all of them together prepare the base for my work.
AR: How was the working environment like when you were in college (M.S.U,Baroda)?
AN: The basics of handling a medium were taught but we were given freedom to experiment and evolve. Moreover the guidance of Alex Mathew, Valsan Kolleri and Dhruv Mistry enlivened the learning procedure and showed us new avenues.
AR: What are the changes you brought in your works from the college days and the later ones?
AN: Experimenting with materials had been my earnest urge which continues till date. After the completion of my educational course I started to paint on the sculptures. This was a major change.
AR: Why did you introduce painting?
AN: Painting was introduced as a process of giving fulfillment to the compositional value. I didn’t think the sculptural process as an end. So I started using painted compositions to complete the process of meaning generation. Even the pedestals are painted to show my engrossment, the environment and the context of the work.
AR: How do you choose materials?
AN: The choice of material is varied. Selection of materials depends on the requirement of the works.
AR: In your recent works you introduced objects along with the human figures and the element of metaphors has been growing stronger. How do you reflect on this?
AN: The objects which are represented in my works are selected from our everyday life. They are not mere inert objects but an active part of our daily life through the interaction with the human beings. I enlarge the object giving it a larger than life meaning along with the anthropomorphic form, sometimes juxtaposing on it and sometimes using them in fragments like the squeezer having a human head to squeeze. Here the mechanical object speaks about the pressure of an urban society on humans.
AR: Why do you prefer fragments over whole?
AN: Fragments are sometimes more eloquent than the whole, further the juxtaposition of it together with the other objects create the desired narration.
AR: You also paint. Do they emerge as layouts for your sculptures? Are they exhibited?
AN: The paintings are not meant to be layouts for any sculpture .But they emerge from the urge to paint. After completing some works when I contemplate and find that it could further be shaped into a sculptural form, a sculpture comes forth. The paintings are shown in exhibitions.
AR: How do you relate sexuality in your work?
AN: Whenever I see a form I map my thoughts, my desires. Sexuality is one form of desire .Desire is expressed through many forms like mapping fragments of a body on the related shapes. Sexuality in my works are also related to voyeurism. I often become a voyeur myself even if not directly but indirectly and derive some sexual association like that of a female torso from a pot.
AR: The narrative strategy you evolved by adding paintings is taking a different direction, it is now being more metaphorical and the usage of it is not visible anymore. Why this change?
AN: This change is taking place because there is a need towards simplification and an indulgence towards clear distinction between the painting and the sculptural process.
AR: Did you conceive the paintings used in sculpture separately as different layouts or executed them in the same layout for the sculpture?
AN: Earlier in the works of my college days there were no paintings but I introduced them in my later works. The layout for the early compositions had to be made separately because I included paintings along with the sculptures from my masters much later. But after that series had been completed I composed the paintings on the sculpture’s layout so that it relates to the shape.
AR: What do you think about the recent market? Do your paintings and sculptures are equally in demand?
AN: The involvement towards work has grown all the more because of market. It gives a boost and provides the artist with basic necessities to work. Now one can think about working without taking up a job. Both paintings and sculptures are in demand. Galleries exhibit both of them with same enthusiasm.
AR: Who are the contemporary artists whom you like?
AN: The artists I like are Sudarshan Shetty, Subodh Gupta, Dhruv Mistry and Valsan Kolleri.
AR: As you go on experimenting with different mediums do you think you will work with mediums such as video or photography?
AN: I can only think about using those mediums after mastering them .Then only it will give the work a required strength otherwise it would be like gimmicking instead of experimentation.
AR: How do you locate yourself as an artist in the contemporary context?
AN: I don’t think much in that line but it is inspiring to see such a varied kind of experimentation in the contemporary scenario. The freedom and innovation one enjoys is very exciting.
AR: Plans for your new works……
AN: I want to work in larger dimensions.
AR:What do you enjoy the most being a painter or a sculptor?
AN: I am an artist so I enjoy both.
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