KOCHI: Can you imagine working wonders through chalk? Sunny Paul, a self-taught artist, uses this medium to make large-sized sculptures.
The sculptor says he began using chalk as a medium when he observed, at a young age, most of the chalk pieces going to waste at schools.
Sunny, who is a teacher now, believes, chalk is not something which teachers should use to write on the board. He realised it had many other possibilities.
“It started as a hobby when I was a student. This soon became an obsession,” says Sunny. Most of his works have been created using half-length pieces of chalk and were exhibited at an art exhibition at Durbar Hall recently.
He has brought to life various inanimate and animate objects including the mermaid of the seas and the house boat, a prime tourist attraction of Kerala. His work is perfect as the artist has focused on minute details on his work of art, be it the small windows in the boat or the scales on the mermaid’s tail.
“ When you focus on such intricate details, there are chances the art piece might break owing to the strain. Working on chalk is extremely time-consuming and is difficult,” said Sunny. Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Three wise monkeys’ was also one of the attractions of the show.
The artist derives inspiration from observations he makes from daily life. He has used different mediums like metal, wood, fiber glass and stone. He has also participated in state art exhibitions and art camps. Besides this, he has done group shows in Delhi and Kerala.Sunny received the Junior Fellowship Award from the HRD Ministry, Government of India for a period of two years. Presently, he is working as an art teacher at Choice School, Tripunithura.
