KOCHI: What do you do with your metro tickets? Do you throw it away after exiting or diligently drop it in the glass boxes at the exit gates of the metro station? If you do the responsible thing, there is a chance that your tickets might become part of beautiful art.
Suresh V G, a 68-year-old resident of Kaloor in Kochi, makes it a point to collect these metro tickets and transform them into art pieces. A chartered accountant by profession, Suresh began his tryst by creating art from waste for a long time. From toothbrushes, agarbatti stubs, plastic bottles etc to stapler pins, he never wastes anything and keeps it safe for building art when inspiration strikes. Slowly, he started venturing into used bills from supermarkets and hotels a collection that dates back years. Waste becomes surreal art in his hands.
His quest for creation began in his childhood days. “As a child, I always collected used materials which looked attractive to me,” he says. There was a time when Suresh also grew his nails for years. “From 1970 to 1984 I kept growing my nails without damaging them. I even used to tie my hands to my bed before sleeping so that my nails won’t break. However, after completing my chartered accountant course, I got placed at Corporation Bank in Mangaluru in 1986. Since the long fingernails started affecting my work, I had to cut the fingernails, which were around 45cm long, almost one and a half feet.” This obsession of his reflects even his art.
Stapler pins were a constant presence in his works. “I collected stapler pins for around 12 years whenever I sorted the papers. Using the pins, I have made an art piece depicting traditional Sentinelese (Andaman Islands) street food. The toppings are made with caps of tube paints,” says Suresh. Another art piece is a three-coloured juice made from agarbatti stubs and straws.
Suresh’s collection of Metro tickets started in 2019. “I was fascinated by the Metro tickets, which are crushed and thrown away after use. The off-white and thick paper makes the tickets ideal raw material for art. I have made about 100 pieces such as pen stands, hanging balls, flowers, lanterns etc using them,” says Suresh, whose biggest dream is to participate in the Kochi -Muziris Biennale.