Aikyam, or oneness, is ceramist Vinod Daroz’s labour of love for nearly four years. The exhibition on display at Hyderabad’s Kalakriti Art Gallery showcases a wide range of his ceramic sculptures; a few standalone three-dimensional sculptures aside, several smaller works come together to form wall-mounted installations of varied kinds, each narrating a story. His work is a blend of Indian and oriental aesthetics. He uses motifs of South Indian temples as metaphors to discuss gender issues.
Mortar and pestle, Shiva lingam, abhisheka kalasam, designs on temple murals, gopurams and the inner sanctum find representation in his work: “In the last 15 years, I have frequently visited temples in Kanchipuram, Srisailam and other cities; I take back new observations each time.”
On occasions, he is lucky to take photographs as reference points. Many a time, photography is prohibited and he relies on his “photographic memory”. Pointing to a series of lattice-like patterns, he traces it back to a temple in Srisailam where he spotted a similar pattern. “I could not take photographs, but what I observed there stayed with me.”
