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Modern and contemporary art in India today, serves a two-pronged purpose. Firstly, artists must create marvels that are aesthetically pleasing, even innovative, if possible. But beauty and ingenuity is only one aspect, as more and more artists are making conscious decisions to keep their art subtly message-driven, thereby also making these creations thought-provoking. By touching upon various issues plaguing society, such as patriarchy, class warfare, sexual violence, poverty and so forth, the second prong is all about holding a mirror to its viewers and forcing them to think. In that vein, bringing his artwork to the table is sculptor Aman Khanna.
“Claymen is a reflection of my personality, experiences and my observations.”
— Aman Khanna
This multi-faceted illustrator, sculptor, visual, graphic artist and visual storyteller uses sun-dried and half-baked clay to conceptualize figurines and objects representing various aspects of Indian society, and its many problems. He is inspired by various potters across the globe, especially the British artist Edmond De Wall who creates a kind of silence with his work. Aman’s project first gained appreciation when this Claymen art installation was accepted for Pictoplasma Academy’s Conference and Festival held in Berlin in 2014, which is one of the largest gatherings across the globe celebrating contemporary character culture. Aman’s style relies on quirky characters and iconic forms in the third dimension. Dividing his project into three broad categories, he explores–Functional Objects, Dysfunctional Objects and Character Sculptures.
The functional aspect comes from Aman’s graphic and information design practice. “These objects add aesthetic by taking it away. They are minimal. They simply are what they are: a celebration of a style that lives at peace with its own little imperfections,” he tells us. His ‘hand-to-mouth’ bowls are both functional, as well as representative of India’s large wealth gap.
Combining aesthetic and design, the Dysfunctional objects, as Aman says, “Have no immediate use, but are not without a function.” The fragile material of ceramic aims to evoke a sense of empathy, and points to the fragility of the human condition in a larger sense.
“Dysfunctional objects are my take on society and the social issues. About 70% of my graphic and information design work in India is for the development sector and I work on various social and environmental projects for organisations like WHO, UN Bhutan, Oxfam and many more similar organisation. I couldn’t overlook this aspect when it came to Claymen, it’s really a part of me, is purely the reason why I studied information design ten years ago in the first place,” he elaborates.
“In a world ruled by the normative logic of capital, where narcissism rules and commodities are fetishized, these humble, hand-crafted objects remind us of the subjective value of human relationships. But crucially of labour and the social function of art.”
— Aman Khanna
On the third category of Character sculptures, he tells us, “They are my own personal observations and my feelings, I almost speak my feelings and observations out through them. Going back to my graphic design practice, I tend to use a lot of iconic forms or characters to explain complex information. The only difference is these forms now have taken a three dimensional form and and now they acquire actual space.” One piece that caught our eye was Aman’s Patriarchy Piece that criticizes orthodoxy, and reflects society’s view of men and women along with the gender gap it propagates.
As he describes them, the Claymen figures come in peace and maintain silence, “Although going through their own existential crises at times they are mere spectators or observers to the notion that ‘man is losing his humanity and becoming a thing among the things he produces.”
You can checkout their entire collection here.
Words by Rhea Almeida
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