Nature's own child

Artist Mrinalini Mukherjee is attracted to "organic" mediums and is now experimenting with bronze.

When the whole world was sculpting in bronze, she chose to work with natural fibre and now when others are "discovering" fibre, she finds herself hooked to bronze. That's Mrinalini Mukherjee for you "" a rebel who believes in playing against the rules "" someone who'd rather be known for the works that she has created.

This has also been a reason why she has had to showcase most of her earlier exhibitions herself as private exhibitions. But she never let that deter her. With single-minded dedication she has pursued her love for the organic or natural.

Little surprise, therefore, her recent exhibition, with around 15 bronze sculptures on display, drew its subject from nature. The series was in continuation of the "Natural History Series 12" that she did in 2003.

Born in 1949 in Mumbai to the artists Benode Behari and Leela Mukherjee, it was but natural for Mrinalini Mukherjee to carry forward the creative legacy of her parents. She studied painting at M S University of Baroda between 1965 and 1970, and did her post-diploma in mural design under K G Subramanyan from 1970 to 1972.

She also received a British Council scholarship for sculpture and worked at West Surrey College of art and design in Farnham, UK, in 1971. And it was around this time that she took to working with natural fibre.

She made her extraordinary debut with the works in knotted hemp bringing out her profound love for the organic. And it was with a marked inclination towards these natural forms that she began experimenting with mediums such as clay and wax.

Her works manifest in them the various elements of nature and a strong note of sexuality with intricate curves and drapes.

Incidentally, her critics have always lauded Mukherjee for her versatile handling of various mediums. Her treatment of her medium has always been very sensitive and sensuous at the same time.

And the quality persists even as she moves away from woven and majestic forms to bronze. Here too, she has been able to transform a variety of materials to make a personalised statement.

During her long artistic career, Mukherjee has participated in many distinguished group shows and held several solo exhibitions. In 1994-95, she was invited by the Museum of Modern Art at Oxford to mount an exhibition of her sculptures.

The show subsequently travelled to several cities in Britain. She has also participated in an international workshop in Holland in 1996. Apart from hemp and bronze, Mukherjee has also done very significant work in ceramics.