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Pottery is no longer a functional medium; it has become high art, as ceramic is CERAMIC is becoming a tool for abstract sculptures, says veteran Indian ceramic sculptor P. R. Daroz, whose latest works seek to portray seabed compositions and ruins of lost cities.
Daroz recently exhibited a new body of over 50 ceramic sculptures in New Delhi as part of its Commonwealth Games 2010 art package. The exhibition, I am Clay, which was on at Art Alive Gallery, concluded a couple of days before. The sculptures, mostly seabed compositions and ruins of lost cities, were a motley of psychedelic shapes in morphing shades of white, brown, blue, green, red and orange that rise, fall and merge into each other on small rectangular surfaces and tall vertical pillar-like columns.
They resembled complex geological maps with serrated contours, ridges, flats and rainbow watermarks. "They are seabed forms because they depict patterns formed on the surface of the sea floor by the relentless lashing of waves and several other natural phenomenon. The colour palette is watery and obscure because they represent the natural imprints left by fossils of ancient vegetation, corals, sea creatures and organic substances on the sea rocks," says the sculptor. It took Daroz eight years to sculpt his collection of seabed art and the impressionistic maps of archaeological ruins. "The sculptures were inspired by my growth as an artist. I began 40 years ago, crafting traditional pots and figurative sculptures with red potter’s clay. The medium was basic. I moved to ceramics and porcelain — clay baked in high heat — later," he adds. Daroz, an accomplished muralist, is currently working on another series of seabed sculptures. Born in Hyderabad in 1944, Daroz trained at the College of Fine Art and Architecture in Hyderabad and at M S University in Baroda. He has exhibited extensively both in India and abroad. "Ceramic is an engrossing medium. It taxes the artist as it involves mastery over material, physical labour, creativity and deft strokes," he adds. The story of clay, terracotta and ceramics — rooted in river clay — goes back a long way to the Indus Valley civilisation 5,000 years ago in the country. Artisans crafted terracotta dolls, toys, jewellery and even seals in Harappan cities like Lothal and Mohenjodaro. Terracotta — another variation of clay craft — first appeared in Bengal in 1,500 BC. In the alluvial tracts of riverine Bengal, inhabitants of ancient settlements like Chandraketugarh, Tamralipti and Harinarayanpur baked earth in low to medium heat to make pots, beads, seals, vessels, sculptures of deities, homes and shrines. Porcelain and blue
pottery, which originated in China, came to India in the 14th century
with invaders from central Asia. — IANS
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"The use of
ceramics has changed over the years. It began as a potter’s tool
centuries ago when clay craftsmen used wet earth to fire glazed
pottery in slow fires. Now, the clay is fired at high temperature at
more than 1,300`B0 C and treated with chemicals and pigments to make
abstract and impressionistic solid art. Pottery is no longer a
functional medium, it is high art," says Daroz.
