Inside out

Madhvi's first-ever tryst with clay was during a three-month ceramics course at Sophia College in 1982. This was while she was still at B...

Madhvi8217;s first-ever tryst with clay was during a three-month ceramics course at Sophia College in 1982. This was while she was still at Bombay University doing her graduation. Three years later, the fascination took her to the legendary Ray Meeker8217;s Golden Bridge Pottery at the master8217;s home on Rue Francois Martin, Pondicherry. After eight months of nine-hour days, six days a week, she was back home in Juhu, to open her own studio with just a wood-burning kiln and a potter8217;s wheel. And yet, her utilitarian earthenware is anything but Golden Bridge Pottery.

quot;Ray Meeker laid the foundation. Apart from the technique, he taught me the philosophy. But my idea of learning is not copying the teacher, but imbibing whatever I can of his creative side.quot;

How did functional pottery then evolve into hand-built containers?

In the USA, where she went with her husband Ramesh in 1989, her work was exposed to many influences. quot;Martha Wright8217;s loosely pinched coiled tableware was one of them. At her New Jersey studio, she was then 1990 doing an African series for avant garde American musician Mersa Cunningham.quot; What followed was a summer workshop with Warren Mackenzie, Master of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University and further exposure at Haystack School of Crafts and Alfred University.

All through she didn8217;t want to do bowls and plates. Inspired by nature and architecture, her work gradually evolved into containers. quot;I still love making functional pots and often go back and forth. But what I like more is break free from the functionality and experiment.quot;

What is her present work like?

Madhvi makes lop-sided pots by layering clay coils and finishing them by hand. These are then coloured with bright translucent glazes and fired, sometimes even five times. quot;These include layers of experience, too 8212; motherhood being one of them. When I was nine months pregnant with my three-year-old daughter Ananya in Frankfurt, Germany, I felt like I would burst. Thus came a huge black pot 8212; my favourite, the pregnant pot.quot;

Where are her pots being shown?

The exhibition, titled A Vessel and a Container8216;, is on at Cymroza Gallery till May 8. quot;I know Pheroza Godrej since the days we did a ceramics course at Sophia. We had been planning the exhibition for long. It materialised just last year.quot;

How is it being received?

quot;Though studio pottery is still young as an art form and ceramics is still at the low-end of the market, people are taking it the way I want them to. For, I don8217;t want them to see the bowl, but see what forms it. Some say my pieces catch sound like a gramaphone. Others find it weird that there are holes in my pots. There are also those who perceive the concept well and feel that the holes are windows to light, air and space. Basically, I not only enjoy making pots, I love it when people enjoy having them.quot;