| SPECIAL SERIES Ashish Das, 38
Sculptor
MR MODEST
A shish Das could be called a poet or a music lover
cast in the mould of a sculptor. Or so he says -- the man-woman relationship which the
sculptor of the Vadodara School of Fine Arts has been exploring and giving new dimensions
to through his works have their origins in Viraha Raas (ancient folk art essentially based
on the principle of separated couples pining for love). Das draws inspiration from his
childhood in Chinsura, West Bengal. "My early exposure to the simple rural folk and
their relationships inspired me to explore the most intimate man-woman relationship as an
equation between the purush (man) and prakriti (nature )."
This outlook also keeps him where he is, instead of
making the move to bigger cities like Delhi or Mumbai in search of more work and money.
"I'm happy in Vadodara despite getting much less for my works. The town boasts of
genuine art lovers," says Das who lives with his wife Saswati and three-year-old son
Shubham in a modest tenement. It helps that there is nothing immodest about his talent.
-Uday
Mahurkar |
