The coveted Arthshila Sculpture Symposium in Patna saw two of Hyderabad’s eminent artists and sculptors, Rohini Reddy and B. Srinivas Reddy in attendance. The annual symposium brings together artists from across the country to celebrate their work and gives them an opportunity to work on stones brought in from various parts of India.
On offer this year were Banswada Marble, which is pure buttery-white, Beslana Black Marble, Udaipur’s pink marble, Chunnar’s sandstone and Jaisalmer’s sandstone — which is a very specific combination of granite and marble. Speaking about her experience at the venue in the rural surroundings of a village 130 km away from Patna, Rohini says, “It was a very refreshing and enlightening experience. The village was completely cut off from civilisation. If we needed to buy something, we had to travel at least 50 km to the next village.”
A bronze figurine by the artist.
The artist, best known for her bronze figurines and fiberglass sculptures, explains that the logistics of transporting and accessing stones such as the ones given to them, is very complicated. “It is only at these symposiums that we get to work with such huge stone structures. In the cities, transporting the stone with a crane and truck is very time-consuming and expensive. Also, city-based artists do not have the space required to work on such huge stones.
One of her large-scale stone sculptures at the symposium.
Our studio spaces are very limited and accessing a studio to accommodate the boulders is very expensive. That’s why I usually work on bronze figurines, fiberglass and terracotta in my studio,” explains Rohini. She adds that stone sculptures are known for their permanency, and thus, mistakes make the art an expensive affair.
“I remember my professor asking me to sketch the visual for my sculpture some 200 times before I was absolutely confident with it. It is a completely different ball game when you have to convert a 2D flat lay into a 3D projection,” she
says.
