S.G. Vasudev's copper relief works are mind-boggling. The first ever retrospective of the artist, held at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bengaluru, features some of his greatest copper relief pieces, apart from paintings, drawings, and tapestries. Vasudev's works, spanning five decades, are on display at an exhibition titled 'Inner Resonance—A Return to Sama'. At Cholamandal Artists’ Village in Tamil Nadu, of which he is a founding member, Vasudev experimented with different forms of art, including batik painting, enamel work, and copper craft.
He loved working on copper as he wanted “a medium denser and more resistive than oil or drawings”. Copper craft is taxing, says Vasudev. It involves heating up copper sheets with a blow torch and then implementing designs, using tools like the hammer. The process is so laborious that it takes about two weeks to finish a small piece. “However, as an art form, it gives me tremendous joy and a great sense of fulfilment,” says Vasudev, who won the National Award instituted by the Lalit Kala Akademi, in 1967. Copper seems to flow like poetry in Vasudev's hands, says Manju P. Pillai, an art writer. “The medium is turned into a dramatic spectacle. The inert metal turns into a flexible space within which is enacted a complex drama, matched only by the extravagance of the metal.”
The recurring themes of spirituality in his other works are reflected in copper sheets too. His personal favourite in the exhibition is a massive work titled ‘Tree of Life’, which portrays a giant tree, with some motifs like birds around it. The artist now collaborates with Chennai-based artisans Chandran and Raja for producing his metal reliefs. The exhibition will be open till September 30.