Sarban Chowdhury
“memories pickled in formaldehyde”
2021
Stoneware
34”/28”
Artist Statement
I am a practising ceramic artist and design educator based in India working primarily with stoneware, earthenware and porcelain. I explore forms, patterns, repetitions, textures, texts and drawings through clay. I work with different hand building techniques, wheel-throwing, casting etc. I also love to experiment with glazing, glaze application methods and firing cycles. My style of working is to repeat forms/patterns to create larger sized installations. My works are usually conceptual in nature and mostly engages ongoing emotions, desires and the feelings that I absorb from my surroundings. I am searching for a fresh perspective. I strive to create an object I’ve never quite seen before- one whose inherent mystery and intrigue quietly insists upon viewer interaction, an object or emotion begging to be explored and examined in much the same way a child investigates the world with wonder, curiosity, and also trepidation. It’s very important for me that the work be challenging a sense of unease is critical because it encourages the viewer to consider carefully what they are seeing – at what is compelling them. I would like my work to exist not as the ubiquitous ‘art object’, but as something more enigmatic – foreign yet familiar, handmade yet somehow organic. Rather than suggest nature, in my own way I am seeking to create it.
Bio
Sarban completed his B.F.A. & M.F.A. in Ceramic Art & Pottery from Govt. College of Art & Craft, Kolkata in 2014 and 2016 respectively. He has participated in several art residencies and symposiums held across the country and abroad, including the 54th International Sculpture and Ceramic Festival in Poland, 4th International wood fire Ceramic Symposium in Russia, 8th Uronto Residential Art Exchange Program in Bangladesh, Art Ichol in Maihar MP, Art for Change Foundation in New Delhi, Piramal Art Residency in Mumbai, National Ceramic Camp by Lalit Kala Akademi, The 4Tables Art Project in Gunehar HP, Uttarayan Art Foundation in Vadodara, Kala Sakshi Workshop in New Delhi etc. He is also a recipient of few awards and scholarships as such Prafulla Dahanukar Foundation award(thrice), National Scholarship by Ministry of Culture (Govt. of India), Prince Claus Fund Cultural Exchange Grant Amsterdam, Percey Brown Award etc. He has been a part of a few curated and prestigious exhibitions held across the globe, to name a few like the 24th & 25th Festival of Ceramics in Boleslawiec Poland, Salone del mobile in Milan Italy, Ambiente in Frankfurt, “High fire” in Yaroslavl Russia, CIMA Awards Show, Emerging Palettes at Shrishti Gallery, Gen Next VIII at Aakriti Gallery, Annual & curated Exhibitions held at Emami Chisel Gallery, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Arts Acre Foundation, Bharat Bhavan, AIFACS, Weaver’s Studio etc. Sarban is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Lifestyle Accessory Design department at Unitedworld Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. He also works for different ceramic industries and private clients as a freelance product designer and earlier worked at Sanskriti Delhi Blue Ceramic Centre as a Studio-in-charge.
Courtesy of sarbanchowdhury.com, artaxis.org