Goa-based artist Subodh Kerkars installations constantly refer to the sea and sand. The sea travels with Subodh Kerkar. Its both outside and inside,form and material,subject and object,making the ocean and the artist inseparable. So here in Chandigarh,its with mussel shells that the Goa-based artist created an installation on a platform of mud at the Government Museum and Art Gallery,transporting the viewers to the seashore. The shells change colour with sunlight,while the form and structure of the installation complements Le Corbusiers architecture. Kerkar is a land artist,renowned for his large installations in nature,with seashores being his favourite canvas. Kerkar is here for the Chandigarh Arts and Heritage Festival which began today with an exhibition of photographs of his works,all by the sea. For someone who forms an intrinsic link between lived life,nature and art by using locally sourced material,Chandigarh,notes the artist,is an inspiration for him to create public art in the citys gorgeous gardens. The spaces here are begging for it, he says. Kerkar gave up practising medicine to pursue his passion for visual arts, and the sea was an inspiration to create work that invites the viewer to be a collaborator. The exhibition of photographs in black-and-white depict the varied installations Kerkar has done on the beach and the seashore with materials such as seashells,glasses,pebbles,bamboo and old tyres. Arresting in both dimension and concept,is his series of works titled Mussel Shells Wave where the contours of the sand and the shells create impression of foliage. In another work,The Fishermen and the Boat,Kerkar creates the impression of a boat being rowed by a group of fishermen,using their hands as oars. The Moon and the Tides is an intervention in the landscape,with Kerkar creating a full moon with white shells,one that gleams in the dark of the night. Waves keep wetting the sand,and then suddenly,a new wave wets new sand and thats creativity. The sea is my muse and master, he says. The fact that many of his installations created on the sand or the seashore are not permanent,does not trouble Kerkar; he uses the metaphor of waves to cherish the impermanence of his work. Waves write poetry on the sand and,not satisfied,wash it off again and again. My work is also poetry on sand, he says,adding that he works closely with fishermen to understand the sea and its many moods. Unlike many artists,his inspiration is the scrapyard,where he finds enlightenment,the latest being old truck tyres that he discovered in a shop in Jaipur and with which he has created a series on camels. Like tyres get worn out on these tough roads,so do the camels feet and shoes. I have depicted that relationship, he explains. Many of Kerkars works are inspired by social,environmental,political issues. He admits that he is an artist-activist. Art,he says,has the power to inspire a thought process that can bring change. The artist talks about the anti-corruption table he has designed,which has nails at the bottom. No under-the-table dealings is the message, he says. Kerkar is nowadays working with red clay to draw attention to the mining issue in Goa. His recent installation Unfolding A Dream created at Vagator beach in Goa is expressive of his solidarity with the Tibetan cause. It includes 600 Tibetan prayer flags with 200 Tibetan monks staging a torch march. I am soon going to head into the forests of the Northeast to create installations with bamboos, he says,adding that history,food and science are passions,which are often reflected in his work.
