Sadhana is often a word associated with the practice of many Indian arts, yoga and other spiritual pursuits. Even without the spiritual connotation, Sadhana refers to a disciplined practice focused on attaining excellence in skill and imagination. For Vinod Daroz, this nature of practice was imbibed early on from the tradition of jewellery making, passed on through generations in his family, infusing the characteristic refinement of craftsmanship, a pristine finish to every object and an eye for detail in his works. His journey to become a ceramicist was however influenced by his uncle P. R. Daroz, a well-known ceramicist in New Delhi. During his undergraduate degree as a sculpture student, Vinod spent time experimenting with ceramics which ultimately led him to specialize in ceramic sculpture in his post-graduation. The availability of resources in Baroda, Gujarat and the expanding artist community in this university town seemed conducive to continue living and working in this city, rather than return to his home town in Andhra Pradesh.
As a student, Vinod Daroz spent most of his vacations traveling to cities with established ceramic studios in order to expand his oeuvre and seek a wider ambit of interaction with studio potters. Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal, the Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry and his apprenticeship with Peter Illsley and Sandy Brown in the UK, are some of the places that Vinod credits to being hugely beneficial in expanding his understanding of ceramic processes and production. More recently, ceramic festivals and exhibitions in countries like Turkey, China, Korea, Pakistan and Malaysia, which carry rich traditions of ceramic art, have been valuable opportunities for the artist to meet with other ceramicists and share knowledge. In addition to these travel stints, Vinod Daroz has had a consistent and continuing dialogue with his teacher Jyotsna Bhatt, whose preference for slower working processes allows for articulating finer details; and P.R. Daroz, whose radical approach and prolific production inspire Vinod in pushing his experiments with technique.
Vinod Daroz specializes in making his own clay body suited for high-temperature firing and has over the years developed a palette of glazes unique to his sensibilities. As for his preoccupations with form, he repeatedly speaks about his visits to the temple-town of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh and the Thousand Lingas in Hampi , where the temple sculptures and architecture have had a deep impact on his work. The tendency to elaborate on basic forms of vases, platters, urns and bowls is reminiscent of the lyrical elaboration seen in the stone sculptures; and his use of gold and copper glazes as incidental embellishments in the works echo his background of the decorative innovations seen within jewellery making. Pattern-making and design are characteristic of art and craft traditions all over India but the repetitive elements in Vinod Daroz’s works in fact evoke aspects of recall and emphasis that one would otherwise associate with chants and meditative practices. The artist however places more importance on the symbolic interpretations of forms and images within his work. He draws a reference to Mandalas through the image of the lotus detailed on large platters, or symbolic representations of the male and female sexualities through the lingam and yoni that are seen in suggestions of floral elements and phallic forms. They all seem to point towards the concept of a universal oneness that embraces both male and female energies. The power of nature can overwhelm one to contemplate on the fundamental aspects of life and for Vinod Daroz, the tsunami of 2004 that hit many parts of the western coast of India led him to seek a new direction within his work. His series titled Silent Shloka reflects his exploration of notions of universal peace.
Ceramic has fundamentally been a medium that has had both functional and aesthetic value through history and this duality is addressed conceptually in Vinod Daroz’s work. The format of the platter serving as a base for a sculptural form can relate to the notion of the container and the contained, offering multiple layers of meaning for the viewer. In his recent works, he creates shell-like forms, washed over with soft glazes and ornamented with gold patterns. In contrast to this are the roughly textured black squares, with ridges ebbing at random in a work that he titles “Black Sea”. Interestingly, water is represented as the container in this work, prompting one to think of how the land we stand on is in fact being contained by the seven seas. A similar departure is seen in his work titled “Timeless”, where the frames that normally hold testimonies of life, memories and perception, stand broken. The work becomes a poignant metaphor for an expansion of vision and the inclusion of other worlds of imagination and understanding.
Art often serves as a trigger for thought, communication and for sharing values. The challenge of reinventing within cultural traditions especially while working with a medium like ceramics, is a conscious choice that a contemporary practitioner undertakes. Vinod Daroz’s work has claimed its niche in contemporary ceramic practice in India and reflects a commitment to a uniquely personalized language that continues to unfold new dimensions of engagement with the medium.
Malavika Rajnarayan
(Translated into Korean by Kim Kyoungae)
(Published in a Korean magazine, Monthly Ceramic Art + Life, February 2015, Vol 227)
Malavika Rajnarayan 