When functional turns sublime
RANA SIDDIQUI
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New Delhi saw an interesting instance of studio pottery in the works of Vineet Kacker and Yushi-Ito at Anant Art Gallery.
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The problem in working in studio pottery is that we have no history for reference.
The concept of studio pottery may be still very young in India, yet those who have taken it up and thus transforming it from functional to artistic, haven't stopped working on it. This, despite the fact that ceramics still don't enjoy the status of art in India. One such artist is young Vineet Kacker. And one of the art galleries to have invested faith on such artists is Anant Art Gallery.
The gallery mounted an interesting show of Japan's fifth generation ceramist Yushi-Ito together with Delhi's Vineet Kacker this week.
Utility and spirituality
Yushi-Ito's porcelain works are all about objects of utility, which he transforms into sublime. His creations such as nestling bowls, vases, dishes in various shapes, Sake bottle and Sake cup (a container used for carrying traditional rice wine), and traditional tea sets were on display. In Japan, tea ceremony is a highly ritualised, stylised and popular observance that dates back to the last decade of 1500s. It is related to Zen Buddhism. The ceremony is part of daily life in Japan as much as it is a part Japanese aesthetics. Hence, in a way, Yushi-Ito's works were a tribute to this age-old observance. A permanent glaze and pastel hues mark his works. Says Vineet, who has tied up with Yushi-Ito for five years to work in tandem, "Yushi-Ito created several works in India. He gets the sheen on them by throwing the pot on the wheel, heating them on 200 degree centigrade and then salt-firing them."
While Vineet's creations are defined in sutra stones, cosmic dishes, Bodhisatva totems, travel tableaux and spirit markers. His sutra stones are as much meditation seats as they are elements of decoration. He transforms the rock and rugged stones from the Himalayas into sutra stones by giving them various shapes and colouring them with saffron, green, beige and white. A few lines from scriptures are carved to give a spiritual look. Similar are his arrow-shaped spirit markers in which the images of Buddha and various religious symbols in porcelain are either engraved or pasted. His cosmic dishes are rounded rugged plates turned upside with Brahman, Vishnu, Mahesh and Buddha pasted on it. Travel tableaux are an interesting and innovative blend of ceramic and photography.
INNOVATIVE Vineet Kacker and Yushi-Ito's works that were on display.
He prints the photographs taken in the Himalayas on the rugged clay/pieces of rock that he brought from there.
A tile painted in sacred colours on which some religious iconic figure or symbol is being pasted, finds a position on it. So far, clay has not been used like that. Says Vineet, a Charles Wallace and U.S. Residency Scholarship winner about his creations, "My guide to studio pottery is Mini Singh, the first studio potter in India. During my tenure as interior designer I was looking for something more artistic to do. When Yushi-Ito travelled to India and did a few workshops on ceramics, it gave me the direction I was looking for. The only problem in working in studio pottery is that unlike terracotta, we have no history for a reference. So everyone is free to make whatever he wants. It<243> also amounts to lack<243> of proper infrastructure. In<243> the U.S. for instance, you can order a kiln, here we have to make it manually. Storage facility for such works is also a big issue."
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