Art Couture: How to wear art on your sleeve

These days, the Akara Art gallery in Mumbai is populated with over 20 geometric figures—hybrid forms, complex frames and reclining figures. At first glance, they seem like origami creations, but a closer look shows these freestanding sculptures have been crafted with epoxy resin and acrylic. Especially intriguing is Seasons, which explores notions of positive and negative space through two plates intersecting at right angles. Such works form part of 62-year-old Dhruva Mistry’s solo show New Work: 1999-2019—the seventh exhibition this year at Akara Art to commemorate its 10 years. The show also features some of his well-known series, such as ALoC, made with stainless steel, highlighting the artist’s preoccupation with fluid architecture and solid colours. Mistry is known for his public art in spaces like Victoria Square in Birmingham, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and The Hakone Open-Air Museum, Japan. A debilitating stroke a decade ago slowed him down, but he found a solution in AutoCAD software, which allowed him to create three-dimensional forms. Mistry’s practice has been best described by Japanese curator Ushiroshoji Masahiro in an essay published on art initiative Critical Collective’s website. Masahiro writes that Mistry’s works and metaphorical mode of expression, which tap into myth, literature and religion, have a broad contemporary ring. I ask Mistry if he draws on vernacular lore for his forms, especially the hybrid ones. “I don’t use religious iconography. The figures that I make refer to things that I see and observe. My practice focuses on the most salient qualities of form—its texture, beauty and shape,” he says.

New Work: 1999-2019 can be viewed at Akara Art, Colaba, Mumbai, till 31 December.

—Avantika Bhuyan

Undercurrent Sculpture Satin Dress by Gaurav Gupta

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BAO BAO Issey Miyake Crossbody Bag by Lucent for MoMA

Launched almost two decades ago, the bag has found

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Honeycomb Tie by HexTies

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Metal Textured Wave Dress by RimZim Dadu

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Embellished Jacket by Amit Aggarwal

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Tilda Bracelet by Ejing Zhang

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