Astronomically
Small
was an apt title for Rahul Kumar’s exhibition of miniature pot sculptures at
Art Heritage Gallery, New Delhi, from the 2nd of March to the 3rd
of April. These minuscule works made us wonder if a pot could be more than just
a pot..
Near the
entrance of the gallery, three very small cadmium-red glazed pots placed in an
unglazed terracotta niche appeared like votive offerings. Many such miniature works
filled the gallery – placed on walls or on raised, uneven ceramic pedestals.
Collectively, they evoked the poetry of Omar Khayyam.
One of the works
featured an indigo vase, just over an inch high, on the edge of a scroll-like strip
of white textured porcelain marked with occasional black swirls. In a similar
vein, a small white teapot, merely two inches high, stood on the edge of a flat
patch of terracotta with a wave-like form at its far end.
To make his
delicate pots, Kumar’s doesn’t throw clay on a wheel but moulds each sculpture by
hand. The scale of the works commands close examination and inspires
contemplation.
In the show, Kumar
also displayed sets of larger tiles mounted on grid frames. These works seemed
to have no relationship with the ‘Astronomically Small’ theme. This slight
confusion detracted from the power and beauty of the exquisitely small pots.
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