SHANTAMANI M – OPEN STUDIO BANGLORE

Lina Vincent Sunish

Hard hitting and poetic at the same time, the works evoke a
range of responses connected to the external form and theme, and
also continuing the integral connotations of the (precious) medium,
that comes with a loaded history involving power and violence. The
artist layers her work to make references to established histories and
myths; these become the entry points for the viewer who can then
extend its context based on personal experience. “Icarus/Jatayu” is a
good example for this – the cross cultural references to the burning
of wings (and failed ambition) by mythical characters are easily
understood, and beyond that the work is enveloped by very human
emotions. The wings are detached, kept aside as it were, utterly
futile, but revered and valued like a museum object. The coal shards
themselves appear to take on the softness of feathers, defying their
very solidity.
The Hands, for those familiar with Shantamani’s work, are
an extension of her engagement with the act of making, and the
disconnect apparent when the hand is merely a user of technology.
As always, her work contains the mark of her gestures, and forwards
the essence of her physical activity in shaping and forming the
sculpture. Here she has retained a wonderful curvature, and
the palms appear fluid, in movement. Their black sturdiness is
countered by their hollow papier-mâché insides, they sit, almost like
gloves waiting to be worn. The coal is fragile, and the paper pulp
too, both coming from the same source element. Here again, the
hands are disconnected from the rest of a body, centering around
the gesture itself, and magnifying once more the conflicting ideas
of permanence and impermanence, death and rejuvenation, that the
coal engenders.