SHE has been infusing life into lifeless wood turning them into artistic figurines that add to the beauty of interiors. With hands that believe in a minimalistic approach, the driftwood is carved into shapes as per the artist’s imagination - maybe into a human, animal or just anything. When Manjoo Rath had her first brush with the art at the residence of a Japanese friend in 1982 in Kyoto, she had not thought that drift wood art would give her a different identity.
Carving driftwood has been there in the state since time immemorial. Legend has it that the Trinity - Lords Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra were crafted from a `daru’ or holy wood that was swept to the shore by ocean current. And after ages, Manjoo chose the same driftwood to give vent to her creative urge.
A busy housewife, she never went to an art school, but it was her creative bent of mind along with a course in interior decoration and design and arrangements of flowers in Japan, that finetuned her aesthetic skills. By now, she has had her creations displayed at Jaydev Bhawan, Bhubaneswar, Indo-German Club, Rourkela and World Trade Centre, Mumbai (in the 90s) to name a few. Her admirers include Shobha De and Vinod Khanna who had also encouraged her to take her exhibition to Mumbai’s Jahangir Art Gallery so as to get connoisseurs view.
Manjoo’s creations include Ganesh carved from a single piece driftwood, a life size elephant trunk, a cattle, mother and child in sleep and numerous other things.
But how does she identify the wood to give it a shape? ``Identifying the wood suitable for an artful transformation comes with a sense of aesthetics. However, before that the wood is treated with water and chemicals to give it a lasting touch along with protection from pests and fungi,’’ says she.
It is after the treatment process that the artist thinks about the details of the shape to be given. ``I use various cutting and carving tools only when it is very necessary and finally a good polish.’’
The price range for her creations begin from as low as Rs 2,000 to Rs 25,000 for works like the figure of Lord Krishna, which she says, takes in a good lot of effort. ``I feel all my creations are priceless but then once has to attach a tag to suceed as an artist.’’
bibhutibarik@epmltd.com