Artists have a unique way of observing things which usually escape the common man’s vision. ‘One World News’ came across one such artist who uses washed out wood to come up with something picturesque.
Suresh Pant is a world-renowned wood sculptor who hails from the town of Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh, India) and has an experience of twenty five years in this field.
‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,’ as the artist admits that he has not taken any professional training in this art form, rather is practising this craft since childhood. He further states that sometimes the sculptures are not even based on any theme, rather randomly made. This allows anyone to personally associate with the piece and feel as if the wood’s soul is telling its own tale.
In one such piece where several figurines can be seen, the sculptor is trying to depict some villagers gathering for a joyous celebration. So in this case, the Indian sculptor creates the image he perceives in the pieces of wood by simply letting the branches guide him. Besides wooden sculptures, Suresh Pant and his team also design wooden stools, utensils, jewellery boxes and play items such as chess-boards and so on.
Pouring light on the making of this art, Suresh Pant says, “The sculptures are made out of old roots of Sal, Sissam and Khair trees which are washed by the rivers in Uttaranchal and near the Nepal Border. Pointing to a wooden stool, he says, “It is carved out of old trees which are found in the Sharda river in Uttaranchal”.
The basic idea is to use old and washed out trees which are generally taken as ‘waste’, in order to enhance the beauty of nature even after it perishes. Till the time the trees are rooted, they support the environment in terms of oxygen, fruits and other products but thanks to these artists that they make use of them even after they’re uprooted and done in, owing to various natural calamities.
However, they are not the ones who cut down trees to use it for their own benefit.
Suresh Pant claims that no machinery or equipment are used in the making of these sculptures, instead, all of them are hand-made items.
Noticing his creativity, friends and family advised Pant to migrate to New Delhi. He now puts up in South Delhi with his children and other family members, who are also a part of his craft- hood. “Children nowadays are more educated and learned and so they try to give different shapes and themes to these sculptures,” he added.
Emphasizing as to how he landed into this business, the sculptor expresses that since he was born and brought up in Uttaranchal, much of his time was consumed in wandering in the jungle and it is from here that he used to collect old woods and sculpted them into unique pieces of art. Being an avid admirer of beauty he whole-heartedly took this up as a profession later. It was in the year 1996, that he met the commissioner of handicrafts who gave him an opportunity to participate in government sponsored exhibitions. Since then he has participated in several exhibitions across the country, in cities like Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore and New Delhi. His sculptures ranging from $ 88.99 to $269.99 can be purchased online.
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