THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Aswin Manikandan has raised the bar when it comes to creating sculptures. This 21-year-old intricately carves sculptures that feature animals and figures. But, these are not carved on rock or concrete. He rather uses bath soaps to give shape to his imagination.
It was in class VIII after watching the tamil movie ‘Mozhi’, in which Jyothika gifts Prithviraj a violin soap carving that Aswin fell in love with the art. “That was the spark. When I first tried my hand at it, the soap broke,” says the Aswin. But, his interest did not fade away. Later, during his first year of college, he was in a quandary about his father’s birthday gift. “I searched a lot for a suitable gift for my father, but nothing was special enough. That’s when the soap art idea suddenly came to me, so I carved out a custom design and that was the start,” adds Aswin. In a span of two years, this self-taught artist has moulded soap in myriad ways, making over 190 sculptures so far. Besides this, Aswin makes models using thermocol and chalk. He also paints and sketches cartoons.
Animals, abstract forms, portraits of cricketers and famous personalities are some of the themes Aswin has explored as a soap sculptor. “While carving you will notice that some soaps are tough enough to withstand chiselling. You have to be focused and handle the soap with care, otherwise slight damage can break the it,” says Aswin. “You need to imagine your model in 3D and sketch down all the angles. After that, you start working on the material chosen, make basic blocks according to the sketch and trim the extra. When working with soaps, patience is the key. You have to be extremely careful of the cuts. Thermocol sculpting is fun but the cleaning process is a huge task.”
Aswin’s biggest thermocol model is life-sized at 5 feet. His alien thermocol model he has recently been shortlisted for an international competition conducted by Stan Winston University. The artist is currently pursuing his computer science degree from Sastra University, Thanjavur. He is conducting a soap carving workshop at the end of this month at Space, near Law College Junction.