Urban Shining- Outdoor Sculptures

Undertaking apparitions in steel, the artist brings forth out of the industrial grid, an aesthetic expression that evokes humanity.

Large stainless steel sculptures that capture the angular, almost cubist expression of his paintings, artist Vikash Kalra presents his most recent body of work. Historically defined as an artistic form in which hard or plastic materials are worked into three-dimensional art objects, Vikash’s sculptures bring the industrial-urban and the artistic-aesthetic together fused through an iridescent surface that reflects natural light as it invites viewers to engage with its welded surfaces and acute angles that dramatically come together to essay human forms.

Quoting from the industrial era, that signifies our ‘Modern’ times, Vikash evokes the heat, light and magic of the process of Welding which includes a flurry of sparks, a mesmerizing light and from the barest of elements— metal and fire, he creates a new cluster of forms.

His sculptural ventures embody free-standing objects, in an outdoor environment, ranging from the man-woman tableaux to solo figures that envelop the spectator with its vigorous form and tensile structure. The sculptures range from a height of 120 to 55 inches and they evoke rather overwhelming emotions of sublimity that are characteristic of that phenomenon that is often larger than humanity.

What is most notable about these sculptures is that they are not ‘decorative’ in any aspect; instead they draw on the raw and sometimes dark energy that is characteristic of Vikah’s painting. It provides a comment on our urban existence and employs a highly modern language. Vikash brings to these works his understanding of humanity, with which he deals with in all his artistic expression, he underlines the toured figures of the past, and hopeful angels of the present; with women and men locked in embrace, of love and of deceit, and of those left to fend for themselves in a competitive world.

Vikash evokes the emotions that are dear to him and his powerful large sculptures convey the complexities of human life and existence. Where one is constantly searching for love and understanding, one is often met with negativity or competitive individuals who cut through one’s peaceful existence. The sculptures that Vikash has created convey this sense of unease and human complexity and do not go for the easy way out of evoking just beauty and aesthetics.

Vikash often believes that as humans our thoughts and dreams are bigger than us. He allows his artworks to live out these larger than life existence and dreams and capture the enormity of those imaginings.

Vikash’s sculptural journey goes back to 2010, when he held an exhibition with Siddharth Tagore titled Into The Void, it was work that showcased his dark energy taking off from Goya, and of course his practice of drawing and painting. A self taught artist, Kalra began his journey with selling books and art journals at a stall in Akalaknanda. Here he met artists, writers, poets, and other creative people who lingered at his book stall, filling him with inspiration and knowledge of a world previously unknown to him. It wasn’t long before he began to paint and with much struggle and dedication, he became an artist; a self-taught painter.

His introduction to a sculptural discipline began with modeling forms in clay. In fact Kalra still loves working with the plasticity and pliability of the material. He expresses himself in Terracotta. In his past explorations, he rendered a family of a husband wife and child, since he was drawing upon his own personal experiences and plugging into the good energy generated by familial love and togetherness. He moved on from expressing himself in fiber-glass but he found the medium did not withstand the trials of time or was strong enough to endure his artistic vigor. He needed something stronger and more structured to expresses himself sculpturally to capture the emotions that Ram Kinker Baij transferred to his sculptural works.

Vikash has also seen himself as an artist dedicated to interpreting his own journey and his identity, he has held on to the things that were part of his identity which is why it took him time to convey those emotions, thoughts and beliefs into his sculptural works rather than changing his style to emulate another practice.

Vikash was also attracted to the playful yet powerful sculptures of American artist Jeff Koons who is recognized for his work dealing with popular culture where his sculptures depict everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces. The shining surface of Koons’ Rabbit (1986) appealed to Kalra and after meeting and interacting with the artist himself in a trip abroad, he began to create sculptural objects in metallic mediums like steel and copper.

It was however not a quick or easy process to translate his painterly skill into the sculptural objects that we now see and the journey began in his terrace studio on the third floor of his home. He accumulated all his energy and Tapasya (translated as artistic ‘penance’) and in this case it is really his perseverance that embodies his work. Kalra drew on his 18 to 20 years of artistic practice to bring to fruition his first large sculptural piece at Almost Gods, which was displayed at Dhan Mill Compound in Chattarpur, New Delhi.

The work consists of the motif of large skull and crossbones at the centre surrounded by tableaux of forms, which range from a winged letter ‘A’, and below a man surrounded by a menagerie of animals on what appears to be a boat-like structure. One is reminded a little of the Biblical theme of Noah and his arc, however Kalra’s intention in this work is to investigate unusual and eccentric characters that straddle the boundaries of our world.

Admittedly Kalra likes the directness of welding the larger metallic sheets together and the organic feel of working directly with one’s hands on the surface of the metal. He does not enjoy being separated from the process of realizing the form as is the instance with bronze casting, which is why his sculptural journey took off and he engaged himself in creating another body of large sculptural works that manifest in several works that express his concerns with the human condition.

Although the welding process did affect his eyes and he did face a lot of difficulty dealing with the heat and light of welding the sheets together, he persisted after taking the required rest and care. Along with his assistant he worked night and day on his creations until they were ready for display.

The journey from 2010 to 2024 has been one of 14 years that has culminated in this larger-than-life expression in steel. Kalra’s work definitely has the potential for a landmark status in the history of monumental sculpture. Where ‘steel towers call for steel sculpture’, and the age of modernity brings engineering and art together.

Vikash Kalra

Vikash Kalra is a self-taught artist and writer based in New Delhi whose work has been exhibited across India and is held in several private and corporate collections.