Assemblage art: a new practice of making art using junk

17 IB Diploma Programme visual arts students including myself took part in a junk sculpture workshop with Mr. Shivarama Chary, a renowned visual artist/sculptor living and working in Hyderabad, over the weekend of 27-28 January.

Shivarama is a national awardee with an MFA in sculpture from the University of Hyderabad and has participated in various group and solo exhibitions across India. His diverse sculptural works have evolved from traditional roots and deal with ideas through a minimalistic approach. He works with different mediums such as bronze, iron, stainless steel and fibre glass.  His artworks revolve around the themes of birth, death, blossoming love, and the relationship between man and nature.

In this two-day workshop we were encouraged to move beyond conventional organizational structures and art traditions by conceptualising and creating junk sculptures made of scrap materials. It was not only uniquely transformative, but also a challenging experience as we were exposed to a new form of art, a new form of visual communication. We gained knowledge on the use of minimalism and abstraction in our art making practices and learnt that ideas could be conveyed using simplified forms. For example, a few leaves can be used to represent nature or a wheel could be used to represent a journey.

“Having no experience with sculpture making any time before this workshop made me express my thoughts and emotions in a form of a three dimensional object,” remarked Swaetcha Repalle. “The workshop helped my thoughts blossom through simple scraps of metal!”

We also learnt about waste management and sustainability. The beauty of scrap is that it can be moulded into a beautiful sculpture. Our assemblage sculptures were nothing but waste material recycled aesthetically. The workshop and the interactions with Mr. Shivarama Chary were really insightful as they opened us up to a completely new art making practice through assemblage art.

Written by Freni Jivani