No limelight and yes, loving it
It’s hard to believe but senior artist Chippa Sudhakar insists that he doesn’t like being in demand. Unfortunately, there’s no running away from it when one is as good as him.
“I really don’t enjoy too much demand of my works. I don’t want to mass produce and I rather desire to retain exclusivity,” he says. A skilful artist, who works with several media and techniques including wood, glass, print-making, etching and painting, Sudhakar currently works out of a picturesque farm-house studio located in the periphery of Hyderabad, which was once an old factory.
For him, a life in art started with a huge reality check from none other than Thota Vaikuntam.
“I had an English teacher who knew I was good with art. One day he took me to meet Vaikuntam sir, who back then was living in a garage. I remember him cautioning me about a life of struggle if I chose art.”
But that did not deter him. “We later bicycled our way to Kavita Deuskar’s place, who was back then the head of the department at JNTU. She kind of helped me take the entrance test and I got in.” After that, Sudhakar studied printing making in Baroda. “To keep the tradition going, Laxma Goud and I hold yearly workshops in print-making.” Sudhakar is also working with glass, resin and wax on his latest series of human heads for a show in Chennai.
The glass heads have metal contraptions inside, symbolising workings of the brain. Also, the sculptures had made an impact at the India Art Fair in Delhi this year and now he is developing a series to cover ‘human thought’, including a glass head with pink flowers signifying a peaceful mind.
Sudhakar is also creating another eye-catcher. “I want to make a flying man to reflect the progress of the human race,” he says. “But I am having trouble finding feathers for the wings. So I am waiting for some chicken feathers from a nearby farm. I don’t want to see any animal rights activists protesting outside the gallery,” he added.
The artist hopes to bring this massive solo show to the city in 2014.
Post new comment