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A vibhuti- smeared mirror is the backdrop to the art pieces at Art Kin Centre’s newest exhibit. It gives one a peek at their own reflection while weaving intricate line work through twirls of ash. A dry clay-covered installation that centres the exhibition, frames the sculptures amid old phones, keyboards, and typewriters.
This installation, inspired by the termite mounds worshipped in rural South India, is a contemporary depiction of pantheism where Nature is sacred. Through the medium of granite, Primordial Elements views the modernity of art through the lens of traditions set instone, both metaphorically and literally. “The Element is as old as the Earth.
I am grateful to the Earth for letting me do my creativity,” says artist Jacob Jebaraj. Drawing from his immersion in the water bodies around him as a child of the 1970s in Tambaram, Jebaraj credits Nature as his first teacher. Incorporating the Madras Art Movement into his sculptures, he describes his journey with his pieces as “ shilpashastra (Hindu texts describing arts and crafts) in the contemporary times.
” Thandham | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The flow of the water through the textures of the soil is the basis for the sculptures displayed at Primordial Elements. Jebaraj mimics this flow with precision that is not mathematically driven, rather reliant on the movement of water into the three-dimensional space. Through his art, he aims to connect to the observer through the stone’s form, line, space, texture, colour, and balance.
He describes this as a psychological method wherein one’s mental state, including anxiety or anger, manifests in the depth of their artwork. He says, “art is the proof of my existence. It is my communication with the supreme.
” Theepam | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Anahata Sundarmurthy, curator of the Primordial Elements experience and co-Founder of Art Kin Centre, aims to bring forth the irony of Chennai’s water crisis. This is despite it being a coastal city that is abundantly blessed with the ocean, rainfall and freshwater rivers. “Water bodies are sacred and omnipotent.
Yet, there is a reluctant dependence in urban centres,” she says. Sundarmurthy says, “the contemporary frees one to view. But you can break the form when you know the form.
Art enhances tradition.” Primordial Elements will be on till December 15 from 11am to 7pm at Art Kin Centre, TT Krishnamachari Rd, Alwarpet, Chennai. Art works are priced starting ₹20,000.
Published - December 11, 2024 03:53 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit The Hindu MetroPlus.
