There comes a time when spirituality and art become one. It’s a symbiotic relationship that feeds off each other, as well as surrenders to each other. For ceramist Ruby Jhunjhunwala, this is an inner journey that manifests through all her creations, with the most recent one being a ceramic and photography installation exhibition titled, As a pebble surrenders, I accept.
Her introduction to her primary medium—ceramics— happened purely by chance. She now believes it was her destiny, as when she looks back on time, she realises how difficult it would have been to work with glass, a medium she had once taken to studying. “My father had a glass factory in Dholpur, Rajasthan. I was brought up in the premises, and dabbled with red hot molten glass routinely,” she says, adding, “After a few years, I met master ceramic artist Daniel Rhodes who had come to India to learn Yoga from B.K.S. Iyengar Iyengar. I began assisting him with getting around. He suggested I learn glass blowing from ALFRED University,” she says.
This was the best and the worst decision she took. The curriculum failed to excite her as she already knew much of what was being taught having grown up in a glass factory. When she decided to drop out of the course, the only other option was ceramics. Once she started with that, there was not a day when she had a second thought. “Glass blowing could have never given me the kind of longevity as an artist that ceramics does, as the former is extremely strenuous on the body, especially the lungs,” says Jhunjhunwala.
Within the course of her career, she took many artistic journeys, but the one that offered her a new perspective, and an everlasting love was when 20 years ago, she acquired two pit fired clay pebbles from ceramic artist Indru Bhatia. This ignited an internal enquiry about life, that later became a metaphor for her existence. “Just like a pebble breaks away from rock and through the withering process becomes what it is, so does human life. Without going through tough times, your true character doesn’t emerge,” she says.
Every ceramic installation you see is a part of the accumulated history of her life. For the last 40 years she has been pouring herself onto her medium by the way of what different experiences had to offer—of the times she gave generously, the times she received, of jealousy, of love, of triumphs, of struggles, of acceptance and of reluctance… these are not pebbles. They are her. On view till March 18, from 10 am to 8 pm, at the Open Palm Court Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road.