JOIN USAs children, playing with clay or mud would have been quite entertaining for all of us. But Archna Ramchandran took it a level further and used this medium to give an artistic expression to her creativity and imagination.
Archna believes the possibilities of clay are immense and doesn’t want to miss an opportunity to work with it. She has created mini replicas of a Yashica camera, a car, a pair of shoes and so on. What comes across in each of these pieces is the intricacy of her work and attention to detail.
Talking about how she got interested in clay art, Archna says, that it is her background in design that inspired her to pursue clay art. “Coming from a background in design, I had the opportunity to work with various mediums and techniques. In my final year at NIFT, Delhi, I worked in ceramics for the very first time and got hooked on to it,” she recollects. She says that it has been a little over a year since she has taken up the hobby of working with clay. She has also titled her work as ‘Clay Anomaly’ because she doesn’t believe in sticking to the regular formats of working with this product.
She has always enjoyed making things and DIY books have always found a place in her library, even as a child. “Growing up, clay was just one of the materials that I played with. Surprisingly, the first prize I ever won was for clay modelling in kindergarten,” she recalls. She points out that it is the vulnerable nature of clay that offers one the freedom to make whatever one imagines. “It is also the freedom to explore and give a form to that exploration that has helped me play around with clay and create something that I think is unique,” she adds.
The artiste creates the models using her bare hands and doesn’t believe in churning out machine-made artefacts. “For me, working with a machine does not give the satisfaction of creating something new, because I feel the machine does most of the work,” she opines. She adds, “When you work with your hands, you are in sync with your thoughts and the materials you work with. Also, it is immensely gratifying to see a finished piece of work.”
As a hobby, clay art is a time-consuming process, but a deep interest and love for the form has helped Archna to keep at it. “It is hard to quantify the time taken to create a certain piece because there are several stages involved. The smaller the piece, the more time it takes,” she explains. It’s not hard for a creative mind to come up with ideas and Archna tries to replicate most of the things that she sees around her, in her art. “Whenever I look at something, the first thought that crosses my mind is how I could duplicate that in clay. Nature is abundant with things to inspire one. I also watch a lot of animated movies. That adds to the creative process,” she says.
While pots, bowls, masks, pen holders, mini people, fridge magnets and mini models of cars, cameras and shoes find a place in Archna’s collection, she says she particularly likes making miniatures, faces and little characters. About her favourite pieces, she says, “The stitch planter, mini car and the nest bowl would top the list.” While Archna hopes to work with clay a lot more, she will soon start working with porcelain as well.
(Archna can be reached at archna.ram14@gmail.com)