Making clay talk

C.Studios, a collaborative art space to explore oneself through creative expression, organised a pottery exhibition titled, Smoke & Clay, at the Alliance Française, Chandigarh, on Wednesday. The event was attended by many pottery lovers of tricity, and almost half of the exhibits were booked, to be bought later, by the visitors by 8 pm!

Artists Salam and Partinder Pal Singh are behind the exhibit, which showcases low and high temperature stoneware and earthenware pottery works. They joined the community of artists at C.Studios in 2021-22. For Partinder, it came easy, being a farmer who has always been close to mitti (clay). He explains, “I was always interested in doing something with mitti (clay) and channel that inner child, who enjoys playing with it. I was introduced to it through a friend who runs C. Studios but now I do not know whether I can live without working on a wheel and kiln.”

Salam, on the other hand, was born into a family of potters. He is also a mechanical engineer who worked for more than seven years in Panchkula. He says, “My grandfather and father were potters. I never liked doing this work while growing up because we dealt with mass production of pottery items. But after coming to this collaborative community of artists, I am able to understand the artistic side of this job. I never knew the glazing technique, but with time I have come to perfect it. The exhibition that we have presented is our works from the past two years, but the glaze pieces with hints of smoke are much recent, from roughly six months ago.”

Partinder shares how the raw material for pottery isn’t an issue, but to work for long hours, especially in humid temperature, is tough. Together, they explore raw tactile relationship of clay and the firing process. Using simple transparent glazes, they play with the kiln environment, the temperature and smoke, to produce unexpected visual effects and colouration.

(On till September 14)