Merging art with environment through her varied practices of painting and sculpture making makes Radhika Agarwala stand out. While she now lives in Goa, her roots rest in Kolkata, and her travels around the world for academics and showcasing have been pivotal in influencing her choices. She is also one of the rarest practitioners of the ancient Lost Wax method. She opens up about her practice, influences, and the evolving artistic landscape in this candid conversation.
Excerpts:
What about art caught your attention?
Art has always been my language of expression. As a child, I was blessed with learning the craft and spending a lot of time with modern artists from Bengal like Kartik Chandra Pyne, Jogen Chowdhury or Bikash Bhattacharjee etc. From paper, to painting with water colour, oil, graphite, charcoal and now sculptures since my return to India, have been my mediums.
Tell us about the Lost Wax method.
While trying to move from two to three-dimensional art, I started working with clay. For the lost wax method that I discovered in 2014, wax and clay are the two primary materials. As my work talks about renewal, loss, transformation, decay, and revealing the fragility of the environment, this process was apt for my practice. It’s about taking something from nature and giving back to it. Each work that comes out is unique. I start with sculpting the object by making a wax mold. Then the mold is covered in layers of plaster until it is invisible. Then this mold is heated,and the wax starts evaporating. Molten metal is poured into the mold to give shape. Once the sculpture is out, you have different stages of cleaning, acid washing, and polishing.
How did changes in landscapes influence your work?
Constantly moving and being around different climates and communities from Bengal, Chicago, Florida, England, Bangalore, and Goa made me realise how the landscape is changing. Kolkata and Goa are both extremely fertile, and what caught my attention is the abundance of untamed environments.
My studio overlooks paddy fields. I did a sensorial series, Frequencies of the Forest, for the Serendipity Arts Festival 2024. It’s a film where I created the ecological landscape in a white cube space filled with regional soil and leaves. The environment changes as one or more people enter. I believe the term ecology is being abused as well.
How has your journey as a sculptor evolved?
My initial journey was more figurative and focused on realism. I can’t imagine a landscape without birds. So, my first sculpture was that of a bird. My practice as a sculptor has massively transformed because most of the works are taken from natural calamity. Also, casting is never done alone by an artist; it’s a beautiful marriage between the artist and the fabricator. The colouration through the Patina is the exciting part that it’s not about being a sculptor but bringing the paint and poetry to the object.
How did your debut as a curator for Gallery Sanskriti enrich you?
As a student, I worked in museums and galleries like the Natural History Museum in England. Also, as an artist we are curators of our own practice. Coming to Kolkata and curating the show was like achieving a full circle. I see it opening new doors for me because I see myself not just as an artist but also a curator.
How have you seen art evolve?
We are in this space where we are redefining and questioning what is art or its purpose. Art is also being decentralised through collaborations between younger voices, indigenous communities, public art and ecological purposes. But holistically, it is like pendulum. While there are a lot of positive collaborations, somewhere, I feel the true essence of sensibility and poetry is missing. Personally, I feel we are regressing. Art is going back to the one-dimensional way of looking at it. Also, the ownership and authenticity of art is dissolving because we have AI and immersive practices. All these new worlds need to co-exist, and we need to find that balance.
How do you think art will survive when technology comes so close to reality?
I think AI is just the beginning, and now people are making art through algorithms. I see younger people have become more like designers. I come from a traditional background, and the hand-brain synchronisation is crucial.
What are you currently working on?
I have been part of a research-based project for the last three years. I was working with moss and how these micro-species are keeping the architectural wonders of Bengal intact. I have been documenting buildings in north and south Calcutta, expanding this as a series.
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