Creative cardboard!

Manpriya Singh

Who knows what a chance encounter with corrugated sheets could lead to? It was around four years back while packing one of his paintings that artist Sanjay Dhawan got fascinated by the ridges and textures. A strong desire to create something unique followed and he had found a new medium to pour his creativity.

Art Vivid, the solo exhibition in experimental art works, puts together 15 artworks with cardboard as the medium.

And vivid it is, only not as obvious to the eye. Each of the works call for a moment of reflection! To find meaning in what appears like a deluge of shapes and colours. There’s one titled Life, with only a part of footsteps entering the cardboard canvas. “The other half can be seen exiting from the other end. That is symbolic of life; we come, leave our marks and exit.”

As for the medium, he shares, “The idea was to do something new. When I started, I searched on the internet, researched and found that nobody had worked on this medium,” shares the engineer-turned-full-time artist.

“If you look at the rims and edges, they are so parallel. That’s where the beauty of this medium lies.” Never mind the hardwork that goes behind giving form to the thoughts. “Most of the works are theme-based. It starts with a thought, followed by sketches and drawing; then starts the process of transforming it into cardboards.”

Each work touches upon a thought or philosophy of life. There’s one titled Thoughts itself, reflecting thoughts of various size, shapes and colours. He adds, “Each of the works has been made out of a hundred plus pieces of cardboard.”

Then there’s Ego, The Dream Catcher, Obnioxaux Metros and Monochromatic Slums, Sail, Broken Thoughts… “I like to delve into the realities of life, touch upon psychology, spirituality and such themes. That comes naturally to me.” And so does art to this Ambala-based artist.

“I’ve worked in several other and the usual mediums as well. But cardboard is what I would like to continue exploring.”

Favourite medium

There’s yet another section on works that can be well described as 3D assemblage, where once again he has played with his favourite medium. “In this, the cardboard has been cut, moulded and rolled into different forms.” Instead of the cardboard spread around, it is the ridges that have been rolled and coloured to give shapes.

manpriya@tribunemail.com

(On till December 21 at Sobha Singh Art Gallery, Punjab Kala Bhawan—16, Chandigarh)