The Fine Art of Sculpture
by Bilva John
Sculptures
I was looking for a material that was around the house which had an interesting shape which inturn could be used to express my concepts and ideas.
One shape got my attention more than others. This was the coconut shells. Always seen as a byproduct after cooking where its insides are used and the exterior mostly thrown away. The shape and the form intrigued me, ‘How could something so hard, house something so important’ I should know this, because I’m married into a Malayalee family who use coconuts for almost every kind of dish they prepare. This aspect of the coconut was something I need to bring out in my work, as the shape was much defined and I felt almost lead to do this piece.
I began my work by first collecting the shells. This was a long process and you usually don’t find only the shells in the market. Every time I used a coconut while cooking, I made sure that I cracked the nut carefully, without getting the splinters all around and then stashed them away.
“My Heritage – Giving”
In the last few months i have been trying to observe and understand my family. Surprisingly I found, not one but many interesting characteristics which define my family and my role in it. I am sure this is not exclusive to my family alone, but also found in different families throughout India no matter their size. The best way to define our culture is by understanding a “family” and it’s values, small or big, joint or nucleus, they all have following things in common – giving, passing it on, uplifting. Most of the time it’s not only our parents, it could be an uncle, an aunt, grandma, grandpa, a sister, a brother or a cousin. What was so striking to me in a family was the way disciplines and knowledge passed on from one generation to another and how amazing that every generation has a story to tell.
There are a few things which are given without asking – love, affection, care; through time some of the things are passed on – knowledge, talents, character, personality. (more…)
My Heritage – Wisdom
"My Hertiage - Wisdom" Each part of the series is in three pieces to represent three generations. The basic forms in each work are alike to show that they belong to the same family. As I was exploring forms to capture giving, I was inspired by the tree rings. Just as new rings formed around the tree bark over the years, I wanted to show that our experiences of life matured through age. The bigger spiral rings open up to the smaller one symblising “to pass on” to the next generation.
My Heritage – Uplifting
"My Heritage Uplifting" The third work of the series is about uplifting the next generation. This was inspired by a sapling; the matured leaves become a support for the young ones to form. I chose this symbolism to represent how one generation builds the foundation for next one. The work titled “Heritage” speaks volumes about our family values and to identify with our culture … It is written, what you sow is what you reap. It is this…that makes us different!
Dhrushyotsava 2010
'Dhrushyotsava 2010' was a time for all the final year students of Chitrakala Parishath to showcase their work. As a final year student of Sculpture (Master's in Visual Arts) I had the opportunity to display my work. Here is a glimpse of how the show unfolded. Thank you all for your support!
We Deserve Better!
One of the most important necessities for survival is water. Clean drinking water is on every politician’s mandate. Unfortunately, even after 60 odd years of India’s independence, this still remains a mandate. No one seems to bother about it. The people who can afford to buy water live and ones, who can’t – just survive.
Bangalore being the IT capital of India, a thriving metropolis and a vibrant city, has its share of water problems. Clean drinking water is still almost non-existent in most parts of the city. Some parts see water supplied to them once in 3-4 days and this for a very limited time. The water supplied is erratic, often below standards and dowsed in Chlorine reach our homes. To top it all, the city has seen innumerable cases of having sewage water mixing with drinking water causing a pandemic outbreak of cholera and other water borne diseases.
Some people though have taken matters into their own hands have drilled bore wells and wells to bring some relief to this problem. But through these measures we are introducing newer more complex problems; the drying up of water bodies in Bangalore and the lowering ground water levels in the city.
Due to this problem, the latest fleet of menaces on the road; the water tankers have grown in number. Businesses are cashing in on this shortage and if things are not in check now, we might be fighting a loosing battle. The water monopoly could take over the city and corruption could become the norm going forward.
Do we deserve better? Yes we do!
We Deserve Better – 2
In the second part of the water series, the installation is created from plastic pipes that are used to transport sewage out of the city. Unfortunately, with deteriorating conditions of our water supply pipes, these lines get worn-out and cause a mixture of sewage water with drinking water through ground water contamination and into drinking water lines. Contaminated water leads to life threatening diseases which if not caught at the right time, could cause a pandemic among the population. This work is in light of a recent bout of Cholera which surfaced in and around the Frazer Town area because of this very same reason.
Recession – 01
The global meltdown of 2008 brought mankind almost to its knees. This was probably the most prolifically word used all through 2008 until early 2010. As a student this also effected the way I looked at a lot of things around. I wanted to bring my thoughts regarding 'the effects of recession' to culminate into a series. This work being the first in the series shows a human hand stretching out to grab hold of his multiple wants but not being able to grab it. There is something holding him back. A knot on his hand which symbolize a constrain on him.
