Articulations of nature and heritage

Sporting goggles, I would repeatedly dive underwater to wonder at the intricacy and colours of this otherworldly realm. Munot’s artworks – which aim to delve into the fragile layers that form the elaborate beauty of nature – deftly evoke such ornate and delicate natural worlds.

Through layering of painted paper, natural fibres and found objects, the artworks become densely rich visual compositions. The eye is increasingly drawn in through the layers, each with its own suggested form of natural life and beauty. Together, they depict the complexity and grace of nature when it is left undisturbed.

The collection ultimately reminds us of our connection to the environment, its vulnerability and the necessity of preserving it – even if only for the ‘selfish’ motive of continuing to enjoy its beauty.

Pondicherry artist Aarti Manik’s Voyage exhibition provides a bold contrast. Consisting primarily of ceramic artworks in muscular forms, Manik’s works suggest hardy watercraft of an ancient era, re-imagined in chiselled shapes. Are these craft in motion? Or simply confidently inhabiting space? In any case, my imagination was quickly taken to Pondicherry’s harbour, replete with its battered, handcrafted fishing boats, and generations of boating tradition.

The artworks suggest diverse influences such as architecture, abstraction, heritage and ‘interior dialogues’, as Manik states. Nature, such as water and wind, is implicit yet not foregrounded.

Manik has long been associated with the Golden Bridge Pottery, a renowned studio established by Deborah Smith and Ray Meeker in Pondicherry in 1971, and is now a teacher there. She is one of a number of the studio’s fine ceramic artists who have exhibited in Auroville over the years, the studio having played a significant role in the vibrant arts culture in the Auroville-Pondicherry region. Long may it continue.