Resurrected in nature

It’s deceptive… It looks like it could only have been constructed using a JCB or other heavyweight lifting mechanism. But I had a big surprise when Supriya Pava explained to me that her latest sculpture is as light as a feather. Well, not a feather, but it contains Thermocol, so lifting its parts into place was actually easy.

Supriya is a SAVI volunteer with Auroville Art Service and is proposing to join Auroville. She previously lived in New York, where she was a professional photographer, but some four years ago she abandoned photography and began to explore her other artistic interests, in particular sculpture, painting and writing. This sculpture at the Solar Kitchen is by no means her first – though her first completed one in Auroville – but is typical of her work, which consists of large shapes that lend themselves to becoming what the observer wants them to be. 

“I am an artist,” says Supriya, “whose main area of interest is Upcycling Art. When I look at pieces of trash on the streets or in junk yards I am not repelled; I don’t ignore them like many people. I see possibilities! If I had enough space, it would be filled with junk that I collect. The fact is, I can’t afford to work in the traditional way. Things that I find are free, and I don’t like to show the raw materials; they are always at the core, not visible. Knowing that I have taken some trash from the environment makes this piece – this process – more meaningful to me.” 

Auroville International USA funded the sculpture. The construction of the sculpture began with a huge slab of thermocol, mixed with cement to bind the particles, which was fabricated in Auroville by a unit which uses the material in building construction. Out of the slab Supriya drew and cut the shapes needed, and then transported them to the Solar Kitchen, though in doing so some parts were damaged as the resulting material is quite brittle. 

Next came the work of a welder, who assembled the metal frame that held the blocks on top of each other, binding the total structure together to reach the final height of three metres, though bits of waste material, some green netting, fabrics and plastic were added to give it its final form.

On nearing completion, the question of colouring came up. Supriya’s first idea was to use the orangey-pink of the Auroville hibiscus, but it didn’t feel right in the context of the Solar Kitchen. What did feel right was to copy the original red-brown colour of the Solar Kitchen’s walls, the powerful deep earth colour of Auroville, thus capturing the spirit of the environment. For this, earth was brought from the Matrimandir site. The resulting mix was applied by a mason guided by Supriya to give the blocks their final rounded form, integrating the sculpture and ensuring it didn’t stand out like some foreign body.

The result? As Supriya puts it, “It towers over me, providing me with shade; it is like being in a place of calm, of serenity. At other times it ceases to exist, it blends in with its environment, camouflaged. Meanwhile, we see how it is being accepted as a habitat. The birds rest on it, many cobwebs are developing, and plants are shooting up around it. There is no resistance. A toxic material like thermocol has been given a new life, and resurrected in nature as part of nature.”

There is a simple test for the success of any work of art, and that is whether one can live with it and continue to obtain pleasure from it. This sculpture undoubtedly passes the test. As the days and weeks go by, I am as fascinated by it as I ever was, and don’t tire at all of its presence. It never ceases to attract my attention as I sit eating my lunch, and I hope it will give others the same pleasure.