8 Indians are taking art to the next level with thought-provoking creations
Jhere exist countless mediums and possibilities to express your creativity and imagination, and some artists stand out among the lot with their unconventional ways of creating great works. As quirky or bizarre as their mediums may seem, their art is simply thought-provoking and unearthly.
Meet some equally talented Indian artists, who make amazing works of art using the most unlikely mediums:
1. Vivek Patil
A renowned visual storyteller, Vivek Patil uses light to create interactive experiences. Considered the only painter of light in India, he creates marvels on luminescent surfaces using rays of light.
Vivek, who also creates sandpaints and speedpaints, has worked with several popular brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Eureka Forbes, Asian Paints, Pepsi IPL Team Kings XI Punjab, Maybelline, Colgate, Philips, etc. He also had the opportunity to participate in several popular reality TV shows such as India’s Got Talent and Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega.
2. Saad
Hyderabad-based artist, Md Saaduddin, or Saad, has created brilliant sculptures and functional works of art using scrap materials like iron, steel, copper, etc.
Saad grew up seeing his father, a vintage car restorer, working with machines. He was inspired to dive into scrap art and mastered it through the experience he gained helping his father at work and watching people make art online.
He makes great sculptures using objects from the recycling dump, the “chor bazaar” and auto parts. Apart from India, he has also showcased his work in different countries like USA, Mexico etc.
3. Reshmi Dey
Finding her calling in the creative glass industry, Reshmi Dey from Assam decided to use glass as a medium to express her creativity. Considered one of the best glass artists in the country, she defied several obstacles by entering a male-dominated industry.
She was exposed to the profession while working closely with the centuries-old business families of Firozabad, known as the “Glass Capital” of India. In order to master the art, she even underwent formal training in glass techniques and technology at the International Glass Center in Dudley, UK.
In 2017, she established India’s first publicly accessible glass art studio in Delhi – Glass Sutra – with her own company of the same name. Today, his brand works in the innovation of beautiful and luxurious glass products.
4. Bornali Bhattacharjee
Can we make art with bacteria? Of course we can, proves Bornali Bhattacharjee, who has turned bacteria like Staphylococcus or Salmonella into works of art.
In 2018, she represented the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics and even won second place for her bacterial art, in an international competition organized by the American Society of Microbiology (ASM).
Titled “My Yellow Vision”, the artwork was created using Staphylococcus aureus in a petri dish on a layer of agar-agar (used as a growth medium for most bacteria).
5. Ramdas Kajave
Ramdas Kajave, an octogenarian from the city of Ichalkaranji in Maharashtra, is known for his beautiful embroidery work.
Over the past decades, he has done portraits of several renowned personalities and celebrities such as Lokmanya Tilak, Rabindranath Tagore, Lata Mangeshkar, Abdul Kalam, Aishwarya Rai, Hema Malini, Madhubala, etc.
He uses at least 20 different colors while working on a hand-embroidered piece or bharatkam.
6. Midhun R
Have you ever imagined something as improbable as human hair used as an artistic medium?
Midhun R (27) from Kerala has been working with hair for several years and was introduced to this unique art form during an internship at an organization in Pondicherry. His first and most famous work is the portrait of actor Marilyn Monroe, which he completed in just three hours.
7. Subhashini Chandramani
Bengaluru-based Subhashini Chandramani combines her passion for photography and gardening through art. She creates works of art inspired by nature using flowers, leaves and several other natural materials.
Also, she showcases all her artistic work via Instagram and Twitter, on her Neelavanam (blue sky) handle.
With thousands of followers on Instagram, she creates beautiful works of art using wilted flowers, petals, leaves, and even colorful vegetables.
8. Parth Kothekar
Ahmedabad artist Parth Kothekar cuts beautiful and delicate works of art from paper.
Parth, who started paper art as a hobby, eventually took it up as a profession after receiving good response for his work. He carves the intricate, hand-drawn designs on paper, using surgical knives to create paper-cut masterpieces.
Sources:
Md Saaduddin a scrap dealer from Nikhita Gowra; published by Deccan Chronicle on December 4, 2022.
Reshmi Dey: A woman is like glass – born of fire, fragile but strong; published by The Punch Magazine on March 8, 2022.
This Man Spends 500 Hours On A Single Embroidered Painting No One Wants By Sanket Jain; published by VICE on June 14, 2018.
Meet Midhun RR who creates portraits using human hair by Susan Joe Philip; published by The Hindu on January 11, 2021.
(Editing by Divya Sethu)
