THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kattappa pampering infant Bahubali, Mahabharatha sequence, Tutankhamen, Abdul Kalam and Mammooty were among 80 sculptures made of soap being exhibited by Biju C.G. of Shangumugham at Museum Auditorium. The 3D artist who presently works in Qatar chose soap as his preferred medium before a decade. “Soap as a medium has an inherent advantage of being cheap. Lesser labour is needed to sculpt, but the disadvantage is that even a bit of extra force can ruin your work. The smallest figure I made was a Ganesha that can fit on the fingertip, but it was lost,” says Mr Biju.
He had held an exhibition in Qatar but did not sell his figurines despite offers from Arabs. “I am not sure whether they will take good care of them,” said Mr Biju. The man had completed BCom and MCA here before going abroad. During his daily schedule, he takes out between half and five hours to sculpt out animals, vehicles, people and abstract themes from single soaps.
“These days I use Lux soap as it has more properties similar to wax. Cinthol and Camay are other preferred brands. The smallest exhibit is a Kathakali figurine which is 2.8 cm tall, 1.9cm long and 0.8cm wide,” he said. “I do not think I am a born artist because I need to see several photographs of a subject before sculpting a figure.” He says he has found an heir in his sister’s son Abhiram Suresh who makes figures out of chalk. Presently, he had flown in only a few sculptures from Qatar, and each of them is cased in glass cubes. The two-day exhibition ends on Sunday.
