In a quiet corner of Delhi’s Espace Gallery, ceramic sculptures sit quietly on a shelf — coconuts, charcoal pears, and a hyperreal ceramic apple. The apple, crimson red with streaks of yellow running along its surface, mirrors the ones found on a vendor’s cart, with some nicks and bruises on its skin. The Delhi-based ceramic artist Shweta Mansingka titles it simply ‘Fruit’ — symbolising the womb of creation and of abundance. It’s an exhibition that speaks in silences —survival and coexistence is referenced through motifs of nature.
Mansingka has been working with clay since 1989. She began under Ram Kumar Manna and Rachna Parasher, later training in Raku, crystalline glazing, and paper clay with artists like Simcha Even-Chen, Antonella Cimatti, and John Stroomer.
Form over function
While many ceramic artists focus on functional pieces like bowls, cups, kettles, and plates, Mansingka’s work breaks away from utility. “For me, art has always been a way to express emotions or concepts that moved me deeply,” she says. Although she did study functional wear under the renowned potter Devi Prasad and continued with functional pieces for five years afterward, Mansingka eventually found herself naturally gravitating back to sculpture. “It’s always been about provoking thought and about passing on a concept, a philosophy, or an emotion that resonates with me.”
Mansingka’s practice draws deeply from nature. Her sculptures are unapologetically bare in earthy tones — no sheen, no facade — exposing the true surface of the clay. The works are also hyper-realistic, portraying her subjects with accuracy. They remain unglazed, marked by raw textures, cracks, and incisions or sometimes her fingerprints or strands of her hair burnt into the surface. She points it out as a metaphor for how everyone we meet, and every incident we go through — especially from a young age — leaves a lasting, unbending imprint on our lives. “These markings symbolise the events, the experiences, the challenges — the impressions left behind. They do leave a mark on you, but they’re like skin-deep etchings,” she says. “Our core remains the same, but our skin carries the story of what we’ve lived through.”
Shape with meaning
The texture and nature of her works are largely inspired by Japanese styles and techniques. “Most of my pieces are fired in a Raku kiln. At the raw stage, the clay is polished to bring out its natural shine. That’s the surface you touch — no glaze, bringing out the clay’s inherent shine.” Mansingka draws a parallel with her own life and about turning inwards: “It’s about shedding external layers, the coverings, the unnecessary flakes. With clay, I want to express that — removing the layers, stripping through the glassy trapping, the extra ‘clothes’, to reveal what’s within.”
One such work, ‘Parched Earth — Triumphant Life’, takes the form of tree bark, sculpted from unglazed black clay with a golden growth emerging from within. It mirrors the natural process of new life sprouting from the crevices of tree bark or from the hollow of an uprooted branch. “That is symbolic of life,” Mansingka explains. “You’ll see it everywhere — a crack in the wall, and a tree grows out of it. A tiny crevice, and greenery pushes through. It speaks of the survival instinct of life, and how it triumphs over even the harshest circumstances.”
Mansingka’s sculptures aren't loud, they lay bare — gently, patiently. They invite viewers to pause, question, and interpret. After all, not everyone imagines an apple or a coconut figure as wall-mounted decor.
On view at Gallery Espace, New Friends Colony, till April 23, 11 am to 7 pm