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Latika Katt’s works are defined by minute detailing as well as an overwhelming presence of nature. Surviving in this field, hitherto considered exclusively a male preserve, is no cakewalk, according to the sculptor
Latika Katt, one of India’s leading sculptors is a classic example of how one can be a non-conformist yet traditionalist at the same time. Four decades ago, she stormed the male bastion of sculpture and shook the art world by winning a competition to create Nehru’s sculpture that adorns Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi. Till today, each sculpture of hers is labour of love, a testimony to a craft learnt at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Baroda School of Art and later honed through years of unswerving passion for her calling. Of course, the sculptor who was in Chandigarh at the invitation of Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi says, “The first and foremost quality of a good sculpture is that it must be born out of an original idea.” Sadly, she rues that today many young artists compromise on their art. And craft, too, which was drilled into her during a five-year stint at the BHU. She recalls how theirs was the first art degree batch of the prestigious institution and how her alma mater ensured that she learnt all about stone caving and other indigenous techniques. Later, she went on to imbibe Bastar tradition and has been visiting foundries world over to perfect the technique of metal casting. “Metal casting,” she says, “is like an unborn child, you don’t know what it will look like till it is delivered/ cast.” Despite the challenges, bronze to which she often lends remarkable patina effect, remains her all-time favourite medium. Often she has experimented too and sculpted works out of cow dung as well.
Living in Banaras exposed her to the cycle of life and death more closely. Not surprising not only its ghats “a universe in itself” recur in her sculptural journey but also growth and decay. And as insect life fascinates this daughter of a Botanist more than human life, termites and beehives become some of her subjects. Her constant muse is the omnipresent nature that appears in her creative process with a vibrancy and organic force few can emulate. Banana plantations, cabbage fields of China, snow flakes of Canada often trigger her creative process. Possessing the uncanny ability of getting ‘under the skin’ of her subjects, to look at it from deep within, she ends up creating infinite crevices and intriguing details. Amid the original creative vision, then how is she able to create figurative statues? Hold it. She is adamant these — she has done one on Rajiv Gandhi too — are sculptures not statues. Moreover, whenever she accepts commissioned works, she makes sure that her artistic freedom is unfettered. Indeed, making sculptures of real people is not a cakewalk. She reminisces how she studied Nehru’s character through films, photographs and even paid attention to little details like the number of buttons on his jacket. Right now as she is making one on Indira Gandhi, she shares wistfully how she would love to freeze Tagore and Gandhi on whom she has created two busts, in larger than life sculptures. Being a woman sculptor, she admits isn’t easy and even today she is reminded of her gender. But this gutsy woman, who has learnt to transform and transcend each setback, including the mysterious disappearance of her husband the renowned sculptor Balbir Katt some 12 years ago, simply responds by working four times harder. At 63, she retains the stamina of an energetic youth and approaches each work with child like enthusiasm. Her works, of course, exude a maturity and profoundness that can only come with deep understanding of life and art. Often as she creates series on pyres, on Sati provoked by the infamous Roop Kanwar episode, the buyers could be dissuaded by themes not quite considered happy. She shares how one prospective client asked her to change the title of her work called “Dead Dog.” But pandering to the market demands wasn’t her criterion when she stepped into the realm considered a man’s world. Nor today when she stands as more than an equal among her male peers and is an established signature in her own right. Yes, she nurses dreams, some “to make fountain sculptures” for herself and some “train village boys and facilitate things for women sculptors” for society. However, whether she is channeling her energies into stone “the sensuous medium” or into her art centre at Banaras, the indefatigable ‘I can’ spirit is neither compromised nor diminished.
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