Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry is inspired by the near incomprehensible complexity of the invisible, moving world of creatures and the immense power and beauty of nature. He doesn’t like the idea of a studio space, preferring the comfort of his bedroom instead.
My object of attention dwells upon ideas of dialectical spaces as palpable things, where enclosures, emptiness, and silence meet with eloquence.
Featured image: Exhibition view. Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. Akara Art, Mumbai , 5 – 31 December 2019. Photo courtesy Akara Art.
Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. Artist at work. Photo courtesy Dhruva Mistry.
How did your tryst with art begin?
Like many children, I spent much of my time playing with natural and man-made objects, apart from drawing and painting. For me studies in school were not that interesting, except subjects like Gujarati, Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Science, Geography and Art. My father moved to semi-rural Kanjari from Bhavnagar for a better future, close to my grandparents. Vallabh Vidhyanagar, named after Sardar Patel, was a new town for education several kilometres from home. Art was not a sought after subject like engineering and medicine. When my family learnt that I wanted to do, what I fancied doing as my work, they told me that I needed a job to make a decent living. After secondary school, I opted for art.
In 1974, I finally went to Baroda and met K. G. Subramanyan for a degree at the Faculty of Fine Arts. My tutors advised me to specialise in sculpture. In 1981, the British Council Scholarship allowed me to take off to London at the Royal College of Art. Ideas of self development, moral support of new friends and interesting opportunities extended my stay in the UK. In 1997, I returned to resume my work in Vadodara.
Exhibition view. Akara Art, Mumbai , 5 – 31 December 2019. Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. Photo courtesy Akara Art.
What is the primary role of an artist? How do you describe yourself in the context of challenging people’s perspectives via your work and art?
As an artist I feel well equipped to explore and express available means and materials in my environment. The cultural history of various civilisations and the history of twentieth century offer inspiring insight into the flow of creative thought, be it art, craft, literature, science, architecture and technology. The arts provide opportunities for appreciation, dialogue, debate and necessary discernment in the world where human greed, suffering and pain continue to threaten us.
How do you deal with the conceptual difficulty and uncertainty of creating work?
My sense of being mindfulness of my immediate and outer environment enhances self awareness. Conceptual individuation seems relative to my exposure, receptivity, state of being and the quality of experience. Learning about life is a day-to-day process that helps us verify the ideas of truth, where appearance may not match the core of reality. I look at things lit by reason and resonance to form shapes of intent. Then I work to ascertain nuances of dreams, desires and reality to make real things. It is easy to encounter difficulties but I learn from my mistakes and work to overcome my shortcomings. Thus, I look to devise ways and find means to realise self goals with necessary patience and commitment.
‘Recline in Lemon Yellow’. Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. Epoxy on 3mm SS304. 15 x 23 x 10.5 inches. Unique variation. Photo courtesy Akara Art.
Let’s talk about the evolution of your practice over the years. Tell us about your commitment to your current medium.
An ever growing interest in the intrinsic beauty of nature and life inspires me to re-create visual equations of my feelings, thoughts and resultant concepts of experience. Familiarity of basic materials and techniques make my sculptural propositions better by the day. My engagement with reality around me can be seen in modelled and fired clay, plaster, papier-mâché, wood and stone carving, scrap welding, repoussé, beaten metal in mild steel, soldered and welding of scrap iron forms, cast aluminum, lead and brass, fibreglass and mixed media. In 1997 when I resumed my work at home, I chose to work with stainless steel. I like its tensile strength. Use of bars and tubes added a kind of crystalline clarity to architectonic forms in space, unlike my earlier work. My object of attention dwells upon ideas of dialectical spaces as palpable things, where enclosures, emptiness, and silence meet with eloquence.
‘Doodledom’. Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. Epoxy on 2mm SS202. 19.5 x 29 x 31 inches. Unique variation. Photo courtesy Akara Art.
Let’s talk about your career. What were your biggest lessons and hurdles?
As a student, I enjoyed learning from dedicated artist teachers and several friends at art schools in India and abroad. Since at school English was the seventh subject, I could not speak English fluently. I had to be observant as well as patient to learn from people I liked to interact with. I asked friends to help me improve my grammar and speech by pointing out my mistakes. In my first few years at Baroda, I used to fall asleep during the cultural history lectures by Gulammohammad Sheikh. I realised I would have to improve my English. Apart from personal discussions with teachers, I used to underline English words in a pocket book on the history of art with their meanings in Gujarati from a Gujarati-English Dictionary.
What is your experience of the power of formative collaborations? Which residency, curator or gallery helped you along on your artistic journey?
In the summer 1984, I was awarded an artist-in-residence in association with the Arts Council along with a yearlong fellowship at Churchill College. The college provided free lodging. I used to work at the Newnham College studio. At the end of the residency, the Kettles Yard Gallery mounted an exhibition of my work. Proximity of places in the town made things enjoyable. The residency was a personal challenge. I had to be able to work alone. It was also an opportunity as I didn’t have to look for space to work or worry about financial sustenance.
‘Sower’. Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. Epoxy on 1.5 mm SS304. 15 x 14.4 x 18.5 inches. Hand painted with acrylic by the Artist. Unique variation. Photo courtesy Akara Art.
Let’s talk about your frameworks, references and process. What inspires you?
Over the years different things have interested me in sculpture. Some popular images, others ignored and rather unexplored ideas of sculptural expression make me think of tradition, modernity and contemporaneity of ideas through their formal, visual presence, conceptual and cultural reference. My work and practice broadens my understanding of visual, social and cultural values vis-à-vis my visual and conceptual comprehension of my work. I am inspired by the almost incomprehensible complexity of the invisible and moving world of creatures and the immense beauty and power of nature.
‘Primal Reconstruct’ (Torso). Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. 2mm SS304. 26 x 15 x 21 inches. Unique variation. Photo courtesy Akara Art.
What are you looking for when you look at other artists’ work? Which shows, performances and experiences have shaped your own creative process? Who are your maestros?
While looking at other artists work I try to look into their innate interests and ability coming through their work as an individual. The more I understand my limitations, more I try to understand and appreciate the freedom of others. As a viewer enjoys seeing how others re-create forms that represent their world view and vision. Big shows and retrospectives of artists are interesting as visual biographies of ideas imagined and explored by dedicated individuals.
Indian, European and other twentieth century masters fascinate me for their interests, intentions visible through their oeuvre. Among Indian artists Benode Behari Mukherjee, Rabindranath Tagore, Ramkinker Baij, K. G. Subramanyan, Krishna Chhatpar, and Nagji Patel interest me. Among western masters I like Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, August Rodin, Constantin Brancusi, Edward Manet, Pablo Picasso, Henry Matisse, Marcel Duchamp, Henry Moore, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Frank Auerbach, Anthony Caro, David Smith, Alexander Calder, Richard Long, Andy Goldsworthy to name a few.
‘Reading, Recline’. Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. Epoxy on 1.5mm SS304. 9 x 9 x 23 inches. Hand painted with acrylic by the Artist, Unique variation. Photo courtesy Akara Art.
Let’s get imaginative. What kind of a service or product in your opinion would alleviate artists’ stress?
Organised systems of alleviating artists’ stress seem rather utopian and collectivist, which can affect individual freedoms. The best artists seem willing to learn and explore themselves so as to redefine their role within the ambit of available resources in different existential conditions. Public and private organisations can work to support artistic autonomy of needy artists. Causes of stress in contemporary life remain complex, but the fear of pain and angst seem to be the new normal as news, views, and real as well as false propaganda could be made viral by people in control of the media. In the new world artists need to study and question ideas of individual freedom and artistic autonomy.
What was your first sale? Do you handle the commercials yourself or is it outsourced to a gallery or an agent?
I think it was few small ceramics and drawings as a student. However an encouraging sale means to be paid well for my commitment and quality rather than materials, processes and labour, apart from dealers’ commission and other taxes. It can be helpful to work with a gallery or an agent to avoid haggling with characters looking for a steal. I haven’t found time, energy or the inclination to promote myself and sell my work.
The duality. Artists often experience contradicting motivations, commercial versus the creative. How do you strike a balance?
To work for myself without expectation of material return has motivated me from my early days. In my case, often the personal seems to have become public in terms of outdoor and sculptural exploration. Clarity of my motives in life and work remain rather stoic, and commercial gain does not figure there. The curiosity to explore ideas of form and self-expression might not make you popular or rich, but it brings peace and stops the unsavoury waste of time.
‘Hanu Man’, A Spatial Metaphor. Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. Epoxy on 1.5 mm SS304. 23.5 x 13 x 12 inches. Hand painted by the Artist, Unique variation. Photo courtesy Akara Art.
How does your interaction with a curator, gallery or client evolve?
I prefer to work with a broad brief yet like to understand their queries, concerns and fears. Knowing people through positive interactions do help but I prefer not to be overcome by their sentiments if they deviate from my ideas of form and content.
Are you more of a studio artist or naturally collaborative by nature? How do you feel about commissions?
The studio idea wasn’t that prevalent in my formative years. There were only a handful of big names working in big cities as professionals of their time. Like traditional craftsmen, tradesmen and designers most artists worked from home. In London I didn’t quite like idea of a studio away from home and going there religiously to spend time. I prefer to have quite a homely atmosphere with a kitchen, chair or settee to rest and sleep, a clean restroom, materials and some books. Since 2008, much of my work is done in my bedroom where I draw, read, write, draft, and design shapes on a personal computer for works to be made locally where there are requisite facilities for welding, grinding and so on.
Commissions are an interesting way to learn about other peoples’ interests, requirements, and resources. I haven’t made any work which I didn’t like. My works in public spaces are personal statements with a kind of visual altruism that engage people over a period of time.
A set of six monumental works in bronze and stone at the Victoria Square, Birmingham, commissioned by the city council reflect my visual interests in terms of scale, quality, materials and spatial relationship of forms meant to create a sense of the sublime in the middle of a busy city.
Exhibition view. Contemporary artist Dhruva Mistry. Akara Art, Mumbai , 5 – 31 December 2019. Photo courtesy Akara Art.
How does your audience interact and react to your work?
If asked for an opinion, people seem to utter whatever they like. People also seek to conform to other peoples’ opinions and align their views. Unlike most people, I don’t confuse popularity with quality since I’m not sure of crowdsourced ideas and opinions about art which do not foster taste. It is good to have public empathy for art and culture as well as artists and their work.
What are you working on now?
Ideas and themes that I have been working upon seem to have lasted longer than I thought due to the deeply engaging yet rather unsatisfactory nature of making art. I find it difficult to fix dates for shows since several ideas are still in their infancy since 2006. I prefer ease of mind and time while working with practical and technical support of different people. Much of the work remain germinal in terms of its quality of form, use of material, scope of scale, texture and colour. I am also working with ideas that can be assembled and fabricated almost anywhere with my instruction. From a workable prototype to an acceptable composition, I need time for the desired impact in a gallery space as I want the viewer to have a one-to-one dialogue. So much of my time is spent in trial and error, making variations so that my hand-mades can be turned into limited edition readymades of our time.
Before you go – you might like to browse our Artist Interviews. Interviews of artists and outliers on how to be an artist. Contemporary artists on the source of their creative inspiration.