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An Affair with Stone

V. K Rajan’s works are meant to bring out the hidden lucidity of stone through ostensible forms and contours. Last month Rajan had a solo show at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery, Kochi organized by Bombay Art Gallery. Renu Ramnanath ventures through the open secretive love affair of the artist with his medium, granite.

Sound is an empirical phenomenon. Intangible; ethereal.  And, stone is all the opposite. As tangible as sound is intangible. As corporal as it is ethereal.  Yet, the twain does meet somewhere. Or, that is what the sculptor V.K.Rajan tries to explore through his granite sculptures. 

On display at the Durbar Hall Art Centre, Kochi last month under the auspices of the Bombay Art Gallery, Mumbai, V.K.Rajan’s solo exhibition of granite sculptures was titled ‘Resonance.’   The title was apt for Rajan, as he was trying to explore the association of sound with stone.

“Most of the time I was working on granite, I’ll be alone in the plantation; there’ll be only the sound of the chisel falling upon the stone; the resonance.”  This is only a rough translation of what he expresses in Malayalam. His Malayalam is heavily punctuated with the Thrissurian dialect, which leaves hardly any space for philosophical discourse.  This is just one peculiar trait of the Thrissurian dialect of Malayalam, the rapid and undulating pace of which can at times leave even Malayalees from other parts of the State in total bewilderment. The tongue of Thrissur will not allow you to flaunt too much philosophy.  

Though a batchmate of N.N.Rimzon, Alex Mathew, K.Reghunadhan, and the late K.P.Krishnakumar, V.K. Rajan had always been a little bit aloof from their political (and, aesthetic) concerns. That too, to such an extent that his position appears to be downright apolitical, even. Right now, his major concern seems to be his medium. Obviously.  He is an amorous lover of granite.  

This love affair with granite had started around the late Eighties. A good many years after his studies. Rajan had completed the post-graduation from M.S.University in 1983. The subsequent years were spent in teaching at the Govt. College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram as well as the other Institutes of Fine Arts in the State. Rajan says he discovered granite at the South India tour with his students from Thiruvananthapuram.  The monumental works of stone that rose from the temple towns of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had cast a deep spell upon him. Shortly after returning from the tour, he had started experimenting with the stone.

The Sculpture Symposium at the Subhash Park, Ernakulam held in 1990 was a major turning point as far as V.K.Rajan’s career was concerned. The symposium (or, sculpture workshop), introduced him to a group of Japanese granite sculptors who later invited him for similar workshops in Japan. Since then, V.K.Rajan had been mainly participating in sculpture workshop if not working his plantation off Amballur, a small-townish village in Thrissur district.  Yes, he has a plantation where he grows rubber and many other crops ! He also nurtures a good collection of exotic trees and plants from different countries.

Rajan had been instrumental in the organising of a couple of stone sculpture workshops in Kerala including the Indo-Japanese Sculpture Symposium (Thrissur/ 1996) and ‘Viswakalasangamam,’ (Changampuzha Park, Edappally, Kochi / 2001-02).

The present show had six works which carry the titles, ‘Aum,’ ‘Resonance –I,’ ‘Resonance – II,’ ‘Rhythm – I,’ ‘Rhythm – II,’ and ‘Seven Sounds,’ all referring to sound, obviously. ‘Aum,’ has the form of the sacred letter in Tamil.  “I wanted to explore the iconography of sound through stone,” says Rajan.

The best aspect of Rajan’s stone sculptures is the dexterity he has reached in handling the medium. Years dedicated to chipping and striking on stone has given him a sure hand of control over the chunks of granite. He believes that stone is like no other medium, as it has no layers like marble or wood. It can not be cut like marble, it has to be his. And, distinguishing the different qualities of stone through the sound made on hitting needs training.

 He adores the monumentality of the stone temples of Thanjavore and Shucheendram. “Those ancient sculptors had immense energy.  And, the stone works of Mexico, even a blade can not pass through the joints, they have such perfection.  Why can’t we get that energy, I’ve always wondered.” 

Rajan is determined to continue his love-affair with stone. He believes somewhat adamantly that dabbling with any other medium will erode his dexterity with his favourite medium.

Interestingly, he was conducting a solo exhibition in twenty years, for the first time after his first ever solo show held in 1988, at Ebrahim Alkazi’s Art Heritage, New Delhi. 

The show had turned out to be significant also for the fact that the Bombay Art Gallery, based in Mumbai, was conducting an exhibition in Kochi for the first time. Coming close on the heels of the Sakshi Gallery bringing their annual show to the Durbar Hall Art Centre, Bombay Art Gallery’s initiative might be the pointer towards many similar happenings in future.