Stone and Beyond: Early Assimilative Approaches in Contemporary Indian Stone Sculpture with Reference to Latika Katt, Pandeya Rajivanayan, Brij Mohan Sharma, and Valsan Koorma Kolleri

In a globalized world, the exchange of ideas, awareness, technology, economic liberalization, and the downfall of paradigms have led to the collapse of boundaries between various forms of visual arts. Achieving a communicable expression has attained primacy for practitioners of visual arts. In India, the practice of stone sculpture-making stands witness to some unique instances of stone being juxtaposed with other mediums and forms of expression. While material exploration and understanding of the medium is inherent to the practice of sculpture, the paper investigated how some of the contemporary sculptors engaged with stone, further refined their expression and possibilities of stone by assimilating it with other materials and forms of expression. Driven by their organic and inner compulsion, these sculptors meaningfully extended the medium of stone by imparting their expression with a strong sense of contemporaneity and sculptural inquiry.