Dhruva Mistry was born in 1957, Kanjari. Mistry studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University of Baroda, India, from 1974-81, and progressed to the Royal College of Art, London, on a British Council Scholarship. He became Artist in Residence at Kettle’s Yard, with a Fellowship at Churchill College, University of Cambridge in 1984-85. In 1991, he was elected a Royal Academician. In 1992 he was appointed sculptor of the Victoria Square, Birmingham. Invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors in London in 1993. In 1994, He represented Britain at various international art exhibitions. Won Third Rodin Grand Prize Exhibition, Japan (1990) and was selected for the solo show ‘Asian Artists Today – Fukuoka Annual VII’, by the Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan in 1994. He has held over 25 Solo exhibitions in India and abroad. After a period of ill health since 2008, Mistry resumed work with stainless steel in 2014 and continues to display his sculptural forms using AutoCAD technology to create works, breaking the 3D forms into a set of flat steel planes which allows use of brilliant colors. Mistry was awarded a CBE in 2001 for his contribution to British art. He received an Honorary Doctorate from University of Central England in 2007. In 2020 Kailas Lalit Kala Award of Chitrakutdham, Mahua and Kalidas Samman of the Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Government. 

Could you share a little about who you are and what kind of art you create?

I was born and brought up in a green, rural and progressive region of Central Gujarat. My father was a draughtsman. I learnt Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts, The M.S. University of Baroda 1974-1981 and The Royal College of Art in London 1981-1983 on a British Council Scholarship. Then, I was a freelance sculptor until 1997 before moving to Vadodara. My interest in the Indian arts, crafts, culture, drawing, painting, photography and nature nurtures and inspires figurative explorations as self expression. Figure as a form in actual space and pictorial image offers lyrical abstractions. My familiarity with conventional media like clay, plaster, wood, stone and use of metals allow me the freedom of forms. My interest in drawing led me to digital drawing of shapes to laser cut stainless steel to assemble my works. The rust proof material seems better suited for the Indian climate and environment. I am curious about visual arts of a variety of cultures and civilizations.  

How has your artistic style evolved over time?

I focus upon exploring quality of the form with the economy of materials for compatible scale. My sculptural challenges use available materials and skills in the given space, time and environment since the 1970s. My skepticism makes me wary of evolving a visual signature style. My sculptural reliefs and works in the round of 1970s and early 1980s remain formal with naturalistic figuration. In the 1980s, my interest in myths offered images of human dichotomy and hybrid creatures. In the 1990s figurative abstraction of forms in space called Spatial Diagrams, were modeled with linear structural forms which kept me busy with fiberglass, bronze and stainless steel in the 1990s-2005. Stainless steel pieces of round bars and laser cut stainless steel sheet metal shapes to assemble works has kept me busy till today. 

What role do you believe art plays in social and cultural change?

My work reflects subtle socio-cultural and political changes that affect me. There are personal and collective challenges of the time, like nudity and sensuality of figurative forms. Self expression in the arts can be an individual challenge for the artist. I minimize use of machine tools to maintain an immaculate quality of spatial images. I had no machine tools in the 1970s. Gradual use of machine tools reflected economical, infrastructural and technological development of the information age. There were millennial changes in the lives of the people. 

Are there any mediums you prefer working with? Why? 

An inert beauty of earthly clay offers possibilities of textures and forms of intent. Fragility of materials like raw and cooked clay and plaster is much better than stone, wood and works of metals. I like to use clay, plaster, fiberglass and resin, wood, stone, and cast metals apart from assembling stainless steel forms since 1999. Sometimes beauty and scope of material inspires me, be it clay, chalk, stone or metal. Actual work results from coming together of my interest and energy using suitable materials for the forms in space appropriate for the environment.

What challenges have you faced as an artist, and how have you overcome them?

Pursuit of Sculpture is a precarious and difficult thing for a working artist. Apart from Financial and material resources for sustenance I need space to live as well as  work which is not so easy. My concern about living and working space after the college environment has continued to concern me since my early days. I had no choice but to work and explore my ideas and forms hoping to overcome difficulties of time, space and personal limitations. My perseverance to do my work regardless of success may have attracted external interest and resources to help me achieve visual impact with monumental scale and relatively permanent, even classical materials like stone and bronze. 

What do you hope people take away from your art when they experience it? 

A contemplative mind opens up enduring forms and images. Forms of visual expressions reflect an enigma of life which can arouse corresponding feelings, sensations, ideas and concepts in the minds of onlookers. Viewing art is an invigorating activity where references can enliven ideas of being human.

Text & photo courtesy of Dhruva Mistry

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