A selection of 25 clay sculptures by New York-based artist Raj Shahani capturing "dancers in motion" will be on display at an upcoming exhibition at Mumbai's Jehangir Gallery. Titled Caesura/Continuum, the week-long show that opens on November 4, marks a sort of homecoming for Mumbai-born Shahani who has swapped a successful three-decade long career in business to follow his calling as an artist.
The works that will be on display are part of the artist's sculpture series titled Emotion that has been two years in the making, and is inspired by the "lyrical movements of the human body".
For the project, Shahani has combined photography and sculpture, two media he feels are "co-dependent".
He began extensively photographing contemporary and ballet dancers, and then translated the pictures into near-life size, three-dimensional sculptures.
"Consciously or unconsciously, I was holding myself back for so long that now I don't need any motivation to create art. I don't really have a system or process in place, I just let my creativity lead the way, and if I get stuck, I close my eyes and let the subconscious play its part," the artist said.
Shahani left a successful career in finance in New York City to follow his passion for art. He sites artists Phillipe Faraut (USA) and Jeremy Lipking (Netherlands) as his mentors, who encouraged him to follow his "natural talent for sculpture".
The artist, who now shuttles between New York and Mumbai, began developing his artist practice at the Arts Students League in New York, going on to work in studios in the United States and Amsterdam.
Caesura/Continuum is his first solo show in Mumbai.
According to the gallery, photographing performances gave the artist a unique perspective on the power and beauty of the human form.
"Moving to the medium of sculptures has allowed Shahani to articulate his sensitive reading of movement and physicality, in the three dimensional," the gallery said in a statement.
The exhibition will continue till November 10.
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