Excursions Into The Third Dimension

Interviewed in 1950, Henri Matisse declared: “I sculpted like a painter. I did not sculpt like a sculptor.” For Matisse, painting was the essence of his art. Yet, it is arguably through his experiments with sculpture that he attained the unique understanding of form that distinguishes his painting.
Matisse was not alone among artists in benefiting from an excursion into the third dimension. Those who instantly come to mind include Degas, Dauguin, Miro, Picasso and Michelangelo.
In India too, 24 year old Sahil Mir has made an attempt to venture into the abstract world of the third dimension. Sahil came all the way from the turbulence of Kashmir to join the Fine Arts Department at Jamia Millia Islamia two years back. She is probably the first to have given a new dimension, the third dimension, to the incompatible art of Islamic calligraphy.
Though Islamic calligraphy, within itself, is considered to be an accompalished art yet for Sahil some modification in terms of invention was needed.
Her experiment began with her own perception which she avidly discussed with her supervisor, Ghufran Kidwai. Despite apprehensions on the scope of the art rendering itself to creative manipulations, Ghufran did not altogether rule out Sahil’s perception. “I wanted to be different from the stereo-types,” she asserts. Sahil gave shape to her thought and “decided to make ‘things’ “. She wanted to sculpt but instead of the figurative bronzes that we might have expected, Sahil began to work in clay, mud, cement, wax, fibre-glass and marble. It was a bold step, as she had not handled these mediums before. Besides, the fusion of Islamic calligraphy, essentially an art of beautiful writing, with the ruggedness of sáulpting was in itself a big challenge.
Islamic calligraphy reached the pinnacle of its glory during the Moghul period. But, at no stage of its development could the art be moulded into sculpture form. The best modification that has ever taken place in Islamic calligraphy is the ‘relief work’ which was later inscribed on the walls of mosques and palaces. “Initially, I too had started with ‘relief work’ which is considered to be a ‘shadow-making’ two-dimensional work in calligraphy,” reveals Sahil. Whereas, ‘relief work’ is basically, carving on stone or wall, a purely two dimensional affair, sculpting is a work in the air made only with the help of maquetee. According to Ghufran, while ‘relief work’ is supposaed to be propositionally a weak work, sculpture, especially in Islamic calligraphy, is considered to be highly skilled, mechanically sound, propositionally strong and aesthetically an admirable work of art,
Amazingly, Sahil never made maquette before making the sculpture. “Though maquette helps so far as perfection is concerned, I never needed a maquette.” Indeed, Sahil’s works are unmistakably perfect. “I have always completed my works in one stroke and achieved perfection without much difficulty.” She reveals with the confidence of an accompalished innovator. But how did the third dimension come into this Chanpura based
Kasnmiri artist’s mind? “From the very beginning, I liked to be different and have always tried to develop something which is not monotonous.” says Sahil. “In fact, no one has done anything on Islamic sculpture in terms of 3-ID, whereas, human figures have been the sole theme of sculptors since ancient times.” Previously, Sahil too, was working on shadows, mostly human shadows. “I changed my topic and concentrated on working out the third dimension in calligraphy after a fruitful discussion with my guide when I took admission for my Masters.”
Commends Kidwai, “She is the first who has used the sculpture form of calligraphy whereas everyone else has used its writing form, which cannot be read from all the corners of the work.”
Today, after completing 20 sculptures, Sahil is planning to work on metal, which is undoubtedly a
co affair. But Sahil is not the one to be discouraged by financial impediments. “God willing, I will exhibit my work later this year. I have immense faith in God.”
All of Sahil’s sculptures are based on words from the Quranic verses and on the name of prophets like Mohammad, Ali, Taha, Belal, Allah, etc. Of these, she has made as many as 10 sculptures on Mohammad alone. “I love my prophet,” expresses Sahil like a true devout.
So far, Sahil has worked only on those words, which have no ‘nuqta’ (point). “In making sculptures, many things \have to be taken into consideration-mass, column, weight, area, etc. For that matter, for proper balancing with an addition of ‘nuqta’ working on 3-D proposition is extremely difficult.” she elaborates. ‘Hasan’ is the first word having ‘nuqta’ on which Sahil is working. “It took two rigorous days to work out the ‘nuqta’ in Hasan.
Sahil laments the absence of Islamic art in famous galleries both national and international. “My desire is to see my art, in particular, and Islamic art in general, in every national and international level gallery. I don’t have any ambition to become famous otherwise.” She is rather, more concerned about art lovers and their aesthetic sense than her contempories. Sahil has, no doubt, successfully picked up calligraphy from the walls of drawing rooms and art galleries and sculpted it, to be kept on cross sections and in transparent glass boxes. “If someone is walking around a particular work, he is supposed to recognise the work from all the corners. That is when the artist can say that his work is complete, mature and has achieved the viewer’s appreciation.”
Meanwhile, Sahil Mir’s next thrust is metal cast sculpture but as she puts it,” I will not stop the cement work”. She firmly believes that “art is not sold on the basis of its material-it is the artist’s mind that matters”.
Osama Manzar