JOURNEY
Flipping through an art book, a month or two post graduation, I chanced upon pottery as a medium I hadn’t attempted yet. A google search and 2 phone calls later, I found myself walking into what was going to be, my future teachers’ studio. Right there, before I had even convinced her of teaching me, as I passed by one of her students throwing on the wheel, I remember telling myself, this is it, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I chose to study mainly wheel throwing for 2.5 years, with a couple of sessions on hand building thrown in, along with a 6 month glazing course towards the end.
Six years in, 3 studio changes, 2 cities and a whole lot of self teaching later, my body of work has changed a fair bit from the first batch of pots I ever made in my own space..
WORK
I design and hand make each pot out of my home studio, living in the midst of a village, on the old road to Mussoorie, a hill station in the northern state of Uttarakhand in India. I make functional pieces for the kitchen, home and garden using both wheelthrown and slabwork techniques, bound together by a contrast between glazed and unglazed raw clay surfaces.
INSPIRATION
My fascination with wooden block prints along with the contrast that the raw clay body provides with the glazed surface, over the past few years, has led me to create my current body of work.
I am particularly drawn to old motifs and those that reflect nature, hand painted or stamped on wet clay, wheel thrown pots brushed partly with a darker clay against the background of a buff, locally sourced, stoneware clay that I work with.
I choose glazes which work to highlight this particular contrast, that bring focus to the motif or surface design on each piece with a restraint and discipline taught during my course and practiced over time.
