Curator: Kristine Michael

Stories can give you a fundamental truth about life, contain archetypal symbols that help make us conscious of and curious about our origins and destiny and they capture a society's truths. create a shared history, linking people over time. Stories are not merely chronicles of what happened; they are more about meanings and often healing. As people talk about the past in a subjective and embellished way, the past is continually reconstructed. Our stories live in us forever. Visualizing a story so that others might see fragments of themselves is how artists and writers use figurative language to create imagery, a strong mental picture or sensation that goes beyond the literal meaning of image/words to communicate. The exhibition strives to re-introduce the narrative power of ceramics and printmaking through the works of artists who have gone beyond material and technique in their practice in order to communicate and reclaim repositories of stories, experiences and memories. They offer a potent alternative to the current state of alienation through object and mark making that reunite humanity’s past, present and future seamlessly.

Ceramic and printmaking is a discrete set of stories within the historiography of decoration and the creative narrative language. The rejection of ornament at the turn of the century by Adolf Loos dictated by the ideological environment around modernism introduced a dominant reductive trend in all genres. Ceramics and printmaking were both cast as vehicles of profound ornament and narrative imagery within the hierarchy of early 20th century visual culture. The decorative denoted the superfluous, the unessential, yet the surface itself is scored, carved, marked, incised, modeled and constructed into a system of signs where every mark is essential in its reading of the object and its story.

The storyteller is deep inside every one of us. The storyteller is always with us, for it is our imaginations which shape us, keep us, re-create us when we are torn, hurt, even destroyed. It is the story teller, the dream maker, the myth maker that is our phoenix, that represents us at our best and at our most creative.

- Text by Kristine Michael

"My works have undergone many changes from the point of view of techniques and themes. I have always consciously sought to define myself as an artist with a constructive role to play in society and I believe that an artist’s role as an active commentator looks closely at structures of the society and the individual. Working for more than thirty years, when I see all my works together, I see that I have worked on human landscape, forms, behaviour and endeavour continuously.

The latest series, Multiple Encounters, is a conceptual and technical amalgamation. Print is a result of transfer of a surface to another and there is a multiplicity in the process. I find the same happening in our society where any relation is an encounter and multiple in nature. The growth of an artwork and travel of time and space is also a matter of existence in multiples. The use and intentional reuse of drawings and creating new forms is like a relation between one and other in our society. I find a tremendous relation between layers in my prints with layers in our society and time and space."

"I remember, as a young child, watching a village potter throw terracotta cups off a hand spun potters’ wheel and fearfully crouching over the wheel, while his fingers guided mine. I remember listening to stories about the gods and of the struggle for India’s freedom. Myth and memory merged in my mother’s telling and with each retelling they became a part of my everyday acquaintance. I remember watching my mother pray in front of her small shrine in our home, and adorn the baby Krishna idol with jewellery, clothes and flowers. I remember traveling across rural India as an environmental journalist, discovering my land as a young adult. These memories and the constant confrontation with contradiction, which is a part of everyday living in India, have an influence on my work. 

While the written word and ideas fascinate me, clay allows me to explore subliminal and oftentimes not easily articulated intuitions in a tactile and visual way. My “yalis”, as I refer to my figurative sculpture, begin to live for me and tell their stories in their living. Their stories reflect my search as they grapple with the modern and the ancient, the personal and the universal, the male and the female, the east and the west, the spiritual and the profane, the rational and the intuitive, the animal and the human, the religious and the secular, and the political and the nonpartisan. My large figures with stylized human bodies and animal heads are made in paper clay. Patterns are sponged on much like a traditional textile block printer. I enjoy “dressing up” the yalis with garlands, mirrors, and ornaments used on cattle."

"The series ‘Rear Window’ is made up of many windows for many different people. It acknowledges the unique personality of each person depicted here but also talks of the common thread of humanity. Each composition here captures the essence of the person and becomes a template for storytelling. A reminder that in the ordinary there are nuances of extraordinary efforts made to sustain this wide big world. The fascination with the ordinary struggles which lead to a strong and bold outlook to life is what I try to portray. It is the spirit to survive and give meaning to life, and is an attempt to reveal what has been hidden, to understand and then celebrate the uniqueness of each narrative. This is an acknowledgement of the spirit of being human and surviving, with all the odds against and all the joys that life has to offer.

Cacti and Flowers depict the duality and struggle in living, leading to an idea of balance. Each human being has their own circumstances and struggles, but whilst combating all issues, they arrive at a  solution and make their own eco-system. In these woodcuts, I deliberately stuck to black and white. As the images had to appear as unfolding pages of a collective book. It could also be seen as peeking into the windows of so many people who could be living in the same building, the same city and yet, appreciative of their different struggles and obstacles. I wish to narrate these realities in my attempt to understand what shapes a human and follow their journey with their unique stories"

"Since my childhood, I have been interested in human behaviors and emotions, and I grew up seeing the  makings of the idols of gods and goddesses by local artisans during Durga Puja and Deepawali. This interest cultivated the desire to learn art properly. In my college days, I learned the basics of pottery making, but because of my fascination with figurative works, I used to see human expressions and figures in pots whenever I broke pots  to reuse the clay. Then I started to develop the pots into human figures.

My subject matter is Nature. I feel that getting outside is good for the soul. Through my artwork, I try to bring the outside in. While I make no attempt to portray actual plants or animals, I do want my creations to look like they could have lived or grown somewhere. Living with beautiful objects that pay tribute to the natural world reminds us to slow down and helps us reconnect with nature."

"Dushyant Patel’s work stands as a testament to his command over material and strive for perfection. Drawing his subject matter from cultural anecdotes, tales and his lived experiences, his visuals are developed with what is now his signature spin to these stories. The word play in his titles, traces its historicity to fables, folktalea, and cultural anecdotes, also helps devise his imagery. 

He continually attempts to find elements that would enable his viewers to access his works by using widely known visual references and minimal use of symbols or metaphors. His attempt is not to fabricate stories of higher import but simply to represent the truth as he sees it. He questions various aspects of the social realm by utilizing humour as a shield, to understand his place in society. Sometimes sarcastic and often ironic, his work is a reflection of his experiences and thoughts occasionally occurring as questions and at other times as confessions."

"My work tells the story of Delhi's migrant daily wage workers, who work in harsh, often very hostile, environments. Our cities are built on the backs of their labour, but they cannot themselves afford a decent livelihood. To sustain a life for themselves and their families, far away from their own homes, they must rely on each other and their own resourcefulness and resilience. I draw my inspiration from the spirit of these working people who get little appreciation—and without whom nothing would work. I have tried to capture what I see every day as moments of their hope and despair, strength, and exhaustion. To my mind, clay is the perfect medium to tell their stories. It adapts to the forces that shape it, and at the end, like my subjects, can stand out as something inspiring, strong, and beautiful."

"Taking an overview of this gigantic world from an entirely different perspective from space, one wonders where we are, and the answer is nowhere! On this vast stretch of the universe, what is our identity? Two drops of dew in the ocean, or two specks of dust on the ground. How does one discuss me and my work in this global scenario? However, I believe that in the process of human evolution, there should be documentation of someone's ideas and thoughts, as well as the process itself, as part of the analysis for future generations.

As an artist I do documentation of my ideas, thoughts, and the creative process as thought flows to form a visual. According to me visuals thus formed are not a work of art, but a mere documentation of my feelings, ideas, and thoughts. Enjoying the process of generating the visual is the work of art, but not the visual itself. Visual is the document of that time."

"The language of printmaking has been a primary means of expression for me. It involves discipline and precision, and the process itself is mysterious and magical. I like to portray life with satire and present it in a story-telling and theatrical manner. I use animal allegory to poke fun at my own culture and my own foibles. My personal nostalgic journey is a confluence of mysteries and dichotomies existentially depicting the symbolism of Goan characters. My compositions have many women who are the principal characters. They are like the ancient ‘Yakshis’ of Indian sculpture, and I have incorporated them into this "modern" world. They are dressed nicely in contemporary modern outfits and current fashion.

The images could also be interpreted as narrations of life in old Goa, which was under Portuguese sovereignty for a long period and influenced by western modernity as it entered Goa’s lifestyle, which determined its culture, identity, religion, habits, and class. "

"I am a storyteller.

My works are a combination of form and narration. Inspiration for my practice stems from my longstanding curiosity about human behaviour, my observation of daily life & the funny ways of society. There has been a strong influence of Pop Art and Picasso’s work in my art practice; hence, some of their artistic streaks might be visible in mine too. I often use ceramic as a medium because it allows me to sculpt, draw, and paint all in one medium. I like to maintain a balance between form and concept. 

I believe art has the power to be used as a social tool; thus, my works are a whimsical satire addressing the long-lived patriarchy and its pressures on all genders. It is my belief, art can confront gender norms and socially created ideas of gender through its visual representations. Through my work, I aim to deconstruct gender identity and break down stereotypical binary roles."

"I feel that the human body can be seen as a microcosm of the city, with each body system representing a different aspect of the urban landscape. For example, the skeletal system could be seen as the city's infrastructure, providing support and structure for the rest of the body. The circulatory system could be seen as the city's transportation network, moving people and goods around the urban landscape. The nervous system could be seen as the city's communication network, connecting people and businesses. This is how I interpret the relationship between human body structure and urban structure as up to the individual. Living in the capital of India, structural urbanization always comes first in my mind."

"While engrossed in the process of creating an artwork, the essence of the idea in the mind’s eye alters itself by transforming it into the visual. While playing among the possibilities of different mediums in art, I try to transcend & expand the limitations of definite meaning as well as the possibilities of visual representation. Like in etching, where accidental effects can be deliberately achieved, ceramic adds to the uniqueness of my self-expression. After mastering the etching technique, I tried to achieve spontaneity by breaking the limitations of size and colour and attempting similar effects.

The content is expressed through solid forms and negative formless space as the expression moves from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. A habitat with minimalistic structures, men and women in a unique arrangement, and indications of inevitable man-made materialistic objects appear in my work. With distinct textures, deeply carved lines like those made by etching plates, and painterly use of colour, I have expressed my intended meaning in these sculptures."