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| Jawaharlal Menon, 'Kausthubham', near Lakshmi Bai National College of Physical Medicine, Karyavattam, Thiruvananthapuram |
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Created by Nature, polished by Jawaharlal Menon – this description would be valid for the artistic pieces that he creates on driftwood. Well, even his talent could be described as a creation of Nature, polished by Menon. For he was unaware of his inclination and liking for driftwood art till the day his daughter insisted on having a driftwood piece at home.
At that time Menon was serving in the Air Force at Shillong. The driftwood he retrieved from a reservoir seemed to him to offer the possibility of a bird. He went home, used the chisel sparingly and thus created the symbol of soaring freedom.
That set him thinking of his own hidden talent. Menon started collecting pinewood pieces from the lake as raw material for his art. And thus more and more pieces got added to his collection.
At his next posting in Gwalior, a more potent driftwood awaited him. It was the ‘Heese’ shrub, used often as compound wall. The knotty root structure of the shrub offered him more possibilities of sculptures. According to him, ‘Heese’ is a plant that promises a unique sculpture in its root structure.
An exhibition of almost a quarter century of his quest with the driftwood was held at YMCA recently. According to Menon, art is simply a borrowing from Nature.
Courtesy: T.Gireesh Kumar (text), B.Ramachandran (photo), Kerala Kaumudi, June 1, 2003
Contributed by: Administrator
