Jointless wooden sculptures-An Indian's Achievement!

Can you imagine artworks made in wood which look like consisting many joints but absolutely have no joints? May sound strange. But that's what actually done by Mr. Shrawan Chopkar, A just school completed person living in Bhilai, India, for the past 30 years,but still remained,for his misfortune, little known!

He converts so-called 'useless' wood pieces into wonderful sculptures.His creations show-historic monuments in India, various objects like-chains, lamps, temples, human figures, wall decorations, belts, necklaces, etc- without any joint!He is the only one in India, who produces such wooden sculptures.He is the creator this new type of wooden sculptures.He has no teacher in this regard.Nor, anybody has come to him to learn this wonderful art!

How to prepare?

To prepares these in his own way he takes the wood piece,makes the idea what to do with it, and then starts chiseling out the unwanted portion of the wood piece, allowing only wanted part to remain. In this way, he prepares every link in the wooden chain neatly carved and makes it movable. Similarly, he carves designs on the door of a building, the designs on the border frame, or the different joints in a human body as it is seen in his sculpture-'mother and child.' This 'mother and child' sculpture is a unique one. He calls that sculpture 'Vatsalya' meaning -affection. This is a teak wood art, which is foldable in different forms to show 9 different postures of mother and child. I have given here two photographs of that sculpture with artist demonstrating it.He has created another wonderful sculpture in Teak wood which could be folded in different ways and could be presented as a mosque, church, Gurudwara(Sikh prayer hall) and a Hindu temple with bells and candelabras.

Other art works

Mr. Shrawan Chopkar creates other types of Sculptures also. He has created astonishing village huts, open well, bullock cart, swing, etc by joining wooden pieces.(photographs are given here)He also creates lamp shades,table lamps, etc by carving coconut shells.

Personal life

Being a distinguished artist, Mr. Shrawan Chopkar is still an unrecognized artist. He started doing these since 1971.Even though he has been invited to exhibit his works and honored, he has not been encouraged by purchasing his crafts, which would have fetched him some sustaining support. He definitely deserves awards like ' Padmashree'(Award given annually by Indian government) .He is not a financially sound person.

What is needed...

All that this distinguished artist needs is the proper exposure to his creations. Those who love innovative arts, such organizations, should arrange an exhibition of his works in metropolis like Mumbai, Delhi, etc and foreign countries. That gives the people in the world to actually see how modern and novel his creations are. Such art lovers can purchase these artworks and see that the artist doesn't give-up hope because of financial starving.

ADDRESS

To enable others to see his creations,I am hereby providing the address and phone number of the artist:

Mr. Shrawan Chopkar

Quarters No.8B,Street No.19

Near Ayyappa Temple

Sector -2

Post: Bhilai Nagar

State : Chattisgarh (India)

Mobile phone: 09329110529(add 91if calling form other countries)

By Email, his son-in -law could be contacted

Mr. Santhosh Rao Dhurve

sr.dhurve@cseb.gov.in