Fusion Art

Fusion Art

An affair with

Catch Delhis leading pottery designer and painter Anju Kumar in a tte--tte with Dipti P as she talks about her journey, inspiration, and her latest art exhibition VIBRATIONS 2012.

nju Kumar creates niche and innovative pottery designs from her home studio- AYAAN & ANMOL. Apart from decorating houses of crme de la crme, Ms. Kumar has also worked her craft for five star properties like the Jaypee chain of hotels, The Radisson, The Oberoi Group of Hotels, Hotel Ibis, The Fortune Group of Hotels, OVL, Petronet, ONGC, The Jindal University and The Saagar School among many other projects.

FL: Tell us about how you ventured into this craft of pottery making?

Anju: Art has always been my passion. In fact I was surrounded by art since childhood as both my father and sister are wonderful artists.

FL: Was it your childhood dream to become an artist?

Anju: I did my schooling from Springdales where I used to participate in various art and painting competitions and won numerous awards and certificates. I had pottery as a subject at school and since then, this art form has fascinated me. I do not possess any formal training but whatever I have learnt is more practical knowledge than theoretical. I did my graduation and post-graduation in political science, but it was in 1989 that a friend introduced me to an ITDC designer and she liked my artworks so I was commissioned to do few pottery pieces and artworks for hotel Kanishka which is now known as hotel Shangrila. In 1990, I had my 1st pottery show at the Blind Relief Association which was a runaway success and there was no looking backsince. Therefore, I may say that it was a stroke of destiny that I was given the opportunity to pursue my passion.

Anju: I am extremely passionate about my art. Sometimes I work for almost 14 hours a day. Clay is an excellent medium, very flexible and can be moulded easily. The beauty of pottery is that it is a craft that can give birth to exquisite creations, one of a kind pieces as you can play with texture, forms and shapes using clay. The satisfaction of playing with clay and mouldingis unimaginable, almost a meditative experience. The earthy feel of the textures and moulding abstract shapes is a unique journey.

the more one learns and it is a process of growth and evolution. Moulding unusual shapesusing earthy and interesting textures, and playing with different forms makes my work interesting as well as exciting.

Nature, harmoniously blending and touching our hearts.

FL: How was the experience of making planters for Indias first ever F1 tracks?

FL: Apart from pottery you also paint. Tell us something about this. How did it first start?

Anju: Developing and creating planters for F1 was an interesting and unique experience. The form was simple but we had blended the stone beige textures with a metallic ring trimming, making the planters very contemporary and visibly smart.

Anju: I feel that painting is just another expression of creativity, maybe the other side of the coin. I feel blessed to be able to express my feelings through my creativity. For me, art in any form is a passion and I have been painting on canvass, wood etc. ever since childhood.

FL: How has the journey been for you so far and do you have any unfulfilled dreams?

FL: What inspires you to craft such splendid creations?

FL: Tell us something about your upcoming art collection Vibrations 2012?

Anju: My career graph spans 32 years but the learning experience continues and that makes the journey very fruitful and interesting. I feel I have evolved as an artist and as a person but I would like to continue my affair with my art in future.

FL: You are renowned for your experimentation with different shapes and forms. Tell us something about that?

Anju: My primary inspiration for any creative expression is Mother Nature and its marvelous wonders. I think my works of art have a Zen like feel to them. Creativity has no bounds and it can take various expressions.So, though my first love is pottery, I love to experiment with other mediums as well. I am very fond of creating ceramic artworks, murals, paintings in oils and acrylics. I have attempted to fuse pottery with other elements like glass, metal, leather and jute. In fact, mixing different mediums gives a new meaning to different art forms. This whole process is very exciting. I believe that the more one experiments and treads on unknown territory,

Anju: My show (15-30 March, 2012) at Ayaan, the Gallery Mall is a collection of artworks, paintings, murals, sculptures and vases. I have aptly titled it as Vibrations 2012,as to me vibrations or thoughts are the motives behind various events happening in our lives and I believe positive vibrations or happenings are the answers to our prayers that bring in lots of joys, happiness and peace. To me, my artworks are radiating a lot of positivity and it is like they are almost being alive.My collections of paintings are in flaming reds, electrifying vermilions, calming blues, earthy ochres and siennas. It is a happy blend of form with abstracts. My artworks are in tune with the

FL: What are your future projects?

Anju: Iam working on numerous projects, both corporate and residential and some of them are very prestigious.The recent projectsare the Jindal corporate office and the Jaypee hotels.

FL: Any suggestions for new artists?

Anju: My advice to anyone venturing in the realm of art or something one passionately feels about is that follow your dreams. To sum itup, one should never give up even though it is a long journey.Yet it is full of surprises, joys and happiness.The feeling of creative expression is un-parallel. n
April 2012 |

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| April 2012

67