Progress Report -Work in the Studio

After the MP’s visit  yesterday we got a couple of articles in the newspaper and this brought quite a few visitors to the studio including some policemen and someone from the central intelligence!!

The clay situation is coming under control- all the possible sources of clay at the studio have been tapped including the clay that was slaking and was currently in slip form. The work is growing steadily in the studio.

Naidee had labeled the three people working at the Maihar House studio as “Team A “and the group working at Art Ichol as “Team B”.  It’s a pity we are not able to  all work at the same place but we have established a wonderful routine of having breakfast together every morning and ending up with dinner and a slide presentation of one artist every evening. 

At the Maihar House studio works are growing taller and every table occupied with work in progress. Music and  a creative  harmony  fills the studio. Naidee’s large Shiva is sculpture almost complete and looking fantastic, Alvin’s two thrown and carved vessels are complete and drying and  Kathy’s pierced Bucket Vessel is finished and slowly drying under plastic. The frenzied energy  of making is subsiding and the  studio full as the time allotted for making wet work comes to an end.

At Art Ichol Sandy was building two large forms, while Thiebaut was rolling tubes that fitted one over the other and Madhvi was busy building with her clay cow dung chips. Jacques had to keep an eye on two ends of the campus as he supervised the brick makers making 4000 bricks for him while he built his form with coils.

2^nd Feb

What an unexpected event that our group was greeted by a member of Parliament, Mr. Ganesh Singh, who welcomed us with a gift of Angavastra (scarf) to his constituency and Art Ichol. Lots of commotion as the press took pictures and clamored for interviews. The MP promised to come back for the fiber kiln firing when Thiebaut told him it was part firing, part performance- so the pressure is on!

After a delicious spread of street food made fresh for us with Golgappas, Chole chat, Pau Bhaji and Dosas we struggled to settle down and work. 

In the studio we had a lot of challenges- the clay was being consumed faster than we imagined, the plasticity of the clay with so much grog was compromised and building the forms was very slow. Alvin had managed to throw and carve a large form with more plastic clay and Naidee had given up working with earthenware but was managing to build with the stoneware clay at a fairly fast speed. 

By the end of the day much work was done, Kathy had thrown some forms and Thiebaut and Sandy made a few sections of their own works. Jacques had resolved his idea of the brick shrine and started his other large work. Madhvi had a mould made the cow dung and had settled into building with her clay- cow chips.

1^st Feb

All is happening according to plan so far, the assistant at the studio Milan Singh has close to 2 tons of clay ready, the glazes have been tested on raw clay and few slips have been made. We have the metal frame fabricated for a kiln Thiebaut has designed and over 300 porcelain buttons are ready for it. There is plenty of wood and the bricks are stacked up. But will all go according to schedule?

We start the day with a meeting trying to sort out the many unanswered practical questions: How much clay will each of us want? What were we thinking of making and will we have enough kiln space? How are we going to dry and fire the works? What solutions will we find to make and finish our works- glazes or slips? 

By the end of the day many things had sorted themselves out Kathy, Naidee and Alvin decided to work at the Maihar studio  and navigated the issue of only one functional wheel and the non-plastic clay. Thiebaut, Jacques, Sandy and Madhvi  worked at the Art Ichol space, 7kms away and had figured out how to dry the excessively wet clay and mix rice husk into it to start building. Jacques had spoken to the local brick-layers for his project and Madhvi had gathered the cow dung chips and hay that she needed. We definitely do not have enough clay or kiln space but work has begun! 

31^st Jan

We arrived in Maihar after a 15 hour overnight journey on the train from Delhi enjoying an Indian picnic dinner in our cozy private compartment  which was outfitted with bunk beds. The journey was well spent getting to know each other and I could see that the group chemistry and dynamics was going to be great!

Our host in  Maihar Ambica Beri welcomed us to her beautiful compound and  her hospitality made us feel instantly at home.  The Maihar house gardens and studio are lovely  and nearby Art Ichol as breath taking as the pictures we had seen.

www.artichol.com

 

 

After the morning of looking around the facilities, we decided to drive to the Khajuraho temples, known for their explicit erotic stone carving.  It ended up being a 2.5hr drive each way on a very bumpy road. It was ambitious for our first day but the temples were inspiring and they more than made up for the terrible guide we got.

The time for the residency has arrived and the seven artists from seven countries are coming in from different parts of the world to meet up in India!!  It was almost 8 months ago when I first started to think about putting this residency together. There were so many things to think of, most importantly the central theme.

For quite some time now I have been exploring scale in clay. Bringing a group of eminent artists together who all work in considerable scale is the realisation of a long held wish.  However, many unknowns lie ahead – the space, the environment, the material, firing possibilities, the group dynamic, chemistry etc.  It is out of these unknowns that the theme of the residency has evolved -Exploration, Experimentation and Examination. 

We are all gathering in New Delhi before we take the train to Maihar in Madhya Pradesh. Thiebaut Chague arrived from France this morning and he and I had the opportunity to partake of the current art season in New Delhi. We went to the National Gallery of Modern Art to see the show of Sudarshan Shetty titled “Shoonya Ghar”- the “Empty House”. The exhibition is a collection of film, sculptural installation and photographic images set in the Indo-Sarasenic architecture of the NGMA. What we enjoyed the most was the way Shetty used his material- the deconstruction of an architectural space and a reconstruction of a space that evoked memory. 

For more info:

http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/the-poetry-of-things/

https://www.facebook.com/Sudarshan-Shetty-at-the-NGMA-209878322686616/?fref=nf

I first met Ambika Beri a few years ago, which was when she invited me to curate an international ceramic residency at Art Ichol in Maihar, India.  It was an exciting idea but I was nervous to take it on. I knew it would be a lot of work and at that time I had a lot on my plate.  As the idea brewed in my head I knew I had to do it, and I really wanted to go to Art Ichol myself!! The residency studio not only looks fabulous but it is situated right in the heart of the country in Madhya Pradesh.

I have always wanted to go to Madhya Pradesh, known for its beautiful Jain and Hindu temples. The famous Khajuraho temple renowned for erotic carvings is located only an hour and a half away from Art Ichol!

Additionally, the national parks of Bandhavgarh and Panna, the home of the great Bengal tiger are also in the vicinity.

As I was working towards putting the residency together, I came across an article in the paper on Maihar. That’s when I realized it was also the home of the well-known Ustad Allaudin Khan the greatest Hindustani Classical music teacher of the 20^th century, who taught musicians such a Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. Below are a couple of  links for the music and a 1963 film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdY4Wj3Fs4Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1alFUQfe1Dw

Ustad Allaudin Khan was the court musician in the last century to the Maharaja of Maihar. He composed several Ragas and laid the stones for the foundation of the great Maihar Gharana. But all these are side stories.  What we are really going to Madhya Pradesh for is the residency.

I have often been asked, “What is a residency”?  Having had the opportunity to do several residencies in Japan, China, Korea and India I like to describe it as a retreat and a time to explore and experiment. It is a much-needed time away from ones usual environment and responsibilities to focus and concentrate. A time for reflection on one owns own journey and a time of interaction with other artists, a time to question, debate and push ones practice further. More often than not a residency would definitely affect the artists practice in one way or another.

Through this blog I hope to capture some of the experiences we are all about to embark on. A journey filled with adventure, excitement as well as all our trials and tribulations.