Drawing Room: What KR Nariman sees in KS Radhakrishnan’s sculptures

KS Radhakrishnan’s sculptures are cast in bronze, yet seem light as air. The Heap is a great way to view us all as a single whole

KS Radhakrishnan is the reason I became an artist. Radha Sir, as I fondly call him, was kind enough to teach me the practical aspects of the profession. Those familiar with his art practice know about the two seminal figurines he created years ago, Musui and Maiya. He refers to them as his alter egos.

In The Heap, KS Radhakrishnan uses five interlocking Musui and Maiya figures. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY THE ARTIST)

He works with bronze, which is one of the heaviest metals by composition. Yet, the playful Musui and Maiya have a lightness about them. Their free flying figures seem to be captured in the midst of reaching for a higher consciousness. To me, they depict a person’s ability to rise from any setbacks they may have faced in their lives.

Radhakrishnan’s figurines act as his alter egos. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY THE ARTIST)

Radha Sir’s figurines appear as light as air. And multiple figures are often positioned on a single thin point. Hence, even though they are cast in the same mould, they appear distinctive and seem to stand on their own in daring positions. They defy gravity, fly and dance to their own rhythm.

He uses the older lost-wax technique to create his art, but his works have a new-age sensibility to them, which makes them universally appealing. I’m particularly fond of a bronze sculpture named The Heap, which he created in response to the chaos of Covid-19. It consists of five of his buoyant Musui and Maiya figurines piled on top of each other in varied stages of movement. When the pandemic was at its worst, dead bodies could be found piled in the same manner, one on top of the other in a heap. This scene is vividly captured in his sculpture. The human beings depicted here have been stripped of their individuality in death. Their limbs seem to reach out to others as a last plea for help.

Despite its heavy theme, the sculpture also denotes the importance of taking care of one another. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY THE ARTIST)

When I first saw The Heap at the India Art Fair in 2022, the world was just about emerging from the devastating second wave of the pandemic. The sculpture is like an interesting jigsaw puzzle, and its imagery struck a chord with me. Its stark black colour, along with the human faces, hands, feet and bodies, all jumbled together hinted that there was much to see and glean from. The figures, every last one, are devoid of any distinctive features as individuals. That perhaps was the biggest lesson the pandemic taught us – that there is no individuality or uniqueness of human form in death. We are all just bodies.

I kept returning to it despite the sheer number of artworks there were to see at the India Art Fair. The complexity displayed in this particular work means I’m thinking about it often. Radha Sir’s ability to infuse so much of oneself into one’s sculptures, is remarkable and inspiring.The profoundness of human relations is a running theme in my own artworks. So, despite its heavy theme, I find that the sculpture also denotes the importance of humanity and taking care of one another.

Delhi-based sculptor KR Nariman focuses on human connectivity and wildlife issues in her work. She creates abstract human forms and animal figurines from recycled material.

From HT Brunch, January 25, 2025

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