Carving magic around the theme of zodiacs, 13 sculptors made each piece of stone talk at Kalagram

Mona

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it, famously said Michelangelo. And, 13 sculptors at the recently concluded 20-day National Sculpture Camp-24 at Kalagram, Chandigarh, lived up to it.

The theme was zodiacs and the sculptors from various parts of the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Ladakh, Kashmir, Bihar, Chandigarh, Punjab and Delhi, were part of this mega camp. It was organised by the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and concluded on November 23.

Each one was entrusted a huge block of black marble, six-by-six by two feet. Working in a row, there was a storm of dust covering the entire lane; not smog but the dust of stones due to the constant cutting and grilling. Each artist had his face covered as the cacophony of machine drowned other sounds. Maquettes — small, preliminary models — sat pretty, but looked forlorn amongst the tools and blocks of extra stone. What was heartening in the melee was that one could see the shapes taking forms — a robust lion, a muscled crab, a fish and a strong bull, just about getting ready to charge!

Narinder J S Maloya was rather happy working on the sign Cancer. Having studied the crab in detail, he was creating a giant one. A post graduate from Government College of Art (GCA)-10, he is much in love with stone. “This black marble looks grey since it’s being carved, but once complete and polished it will be jet black.” His entire focus was on getting the proportions right. “Art should be accessible to all — rich, poor, man, woman, old or young,” shared the artist.

Next to him was Simarjeet Sekha, who had the sign Leo to work upon. An impressive lion, robust and roaring was taking shape. Interestingly, Simarjeet loves to create animal forms, his favourite being a dog, for which he won an award too.

Keralite Ajesh Kumar Kandalloor, who teaches at Stone Artisan Park Training Institute, Gujarat, had Aries as his theme, and we saw the outline of horns shaping up in a huge chunk of stone. Sanul Kuttan was dealing with Gemini. Two human figures being his sign, he was seen making full figures. Kuttan was here before at another sculpture workshop. At that time in the wake of farmers’ protests, he made a figure of a farmer with hay.

Mohammad Iqbal teaches at Anantnag. Carving a weighing scale, the symbol for Libra, he shared, “I love being here. I haven’t seen such a large collection of sculptures anywhere else.”

Devi Das Khattri, who is with the Lalit Kala Akademi, Garhi, Delhi, was busy making a goat as he was assigned the Capricorn sign. Surakala Appalaraju, from Andhra Pradesh, was seen painstakingly carving a bull for Tauras. Not ready to waste any of the heavy stone, he was making a robust figure.

Abhishek Singh also freelances at Garhi. Working on the symbol Sagittarius, half-human, half- horse, he did Masters from GCA-10. He fondly recalled, “College ka mahaul bahut acha tha.”

Alay Mistry from Ahmedabad was chopping off a bulky stone. The theme assigned to him was Pisces. He was scraping a stone to carve lean meen (fish). Rajender Kumar was making a woman for the sign Virgo. While he was enjoying the workshop with fellow sculptures, he was on a deputation at Burail Jail, an experience he spoke highly of. “Mostly, I worked with under-trials there. Their zeal to learn was unparalleled amd I enjoyed the stint.”

Tsering Gurmet from Ladakh was busy shaping a big block for his sign — Scorpio. Hugely inspired by Leonardo’s horse, Gurmet shared, “We have bustling art scene in Ladakh. While art there has largely been religious and traditional, we, the first generation of sculptors, are getting a huge response.”

Aquarian Shubham Santosh Salve from Maharashtra had the Aquarian sign to chisel. While most of the artists were non-committal to zodiac concepts, Salve seemed to have happily embraced it. Keenly displaying his sculpture — a water bearer — he said, “Aquarians are eager to spread knowledge just like the flowing water in their symbol.”

Away from this din was Jagdeep Jolly. He was seen putting all the symbols in a circle in fiberglass. Having studied from the Delhi College of Art, he teaches at Chandigarh.