K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN | Maiya as Graduate

Acquired directly from the artist, April 2001

 

The patina is uneven due to the natural ageing process and there is discolouration throughout, most notably in the crevices and a few inches above the reverse of her right thigh. Pitting, nicks and pinholes are also present across the surface of the sculpture that are likely a result of the artist's casting process. Small accretions are also visible. The work is in good overall condition, as viewed.
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K. S. Radhakrishnan was born in 1956 in Kottayam, Kerala.  After graduating with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in sculpture from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, he worked closely with Professor Sarbari Roy Chowdhary and Ramkinkar Baij. A bold and innovative sculptor, ‘Radha’, as he is known, has participated in over fifty solo and group exhibitions held in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Paris and the United States, and has won several awards including a National Scholarship, Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship and the Birla Academy of Art & Culture Award.  Radhakrishnan regularly depicts two dynamic alter egos in his works – Musui and his female counterpart, Maiya. These figures are symbols of light and joy and allude to the human mind’s capacity to transform and imagine oneself in multiple ways. The idea for the sculptor’s archetypal man and woman arose in 1970, when a young Radhakrishnan met a Santhal boy named Musui. Musui’s peaceful expression and youthful happiness profoundly affected the artist and led him to ask the boy to be his model. Radhakrishnan sought to impart that sense of inner bliss on the faces of his subjects and, in turn, Musui and Maiya have become his lifelong muses. In his sculptures, his protagonists are represented with stalk-thin forms, often in acrobatic postures.

In the current lot, Maiya is rendered life-size. She stands in the same confident stance as the famous Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro granting this iconic ancient sculpture a monumental presence. Made in around 2500 BCE, in what is now Pakistan, the original Dancing Girl was discovered in 1926 in the Indus Valley: ‘a young girl, her hand on her hip in a half-impudent posture, and legs slightly forward as she beats time to the music with her legs and feet.” (J. Marshall quoted in G. Possehl, The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective, AltaMira Press, 2002, p. 113) Archaeologist Gregory Possehl has labelled the Mohenjo-daro statuette as ‘the most captivating piece of art from an Indus site’ and she is now housed in the National Museum of New Delhi. (G. Possehl, The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective, AltaMira Press, 2002, p. 114)

Maiya, like the Dancing Girl, is nude but for the numerous bangles piled along her left arm. She surpasses the sensuousness of her anatomy by captivating the viewer with her bold demeanour and preoccupation in her dance. This engrossment is similarly noted with regards to her prehistoric counterpart: ‘The forward thrust of the left leg and backwards tilted right, the gesture of the hands, demeanour of the face and uplifted head, all speak of absorption in dance, perhaps one of those early styles that combined drama with dance, and dialogue with body-gestures” (National Museum New Delhi, Pre-History & Archaeology, http://www.nationalmuseumindia.gov.in/prodCollections.asp?pid=44&id=1) Maiya’s confidence and self-assuredness is emphasised by Radhakrishnan’s use of bronze: “for me bronze works best because it is strong, and brings out the character of my sculptures. Although it takes time, the process also becomes a part of my art form.” (P. Chaturvedi, ‘Radhakrishnan | Sculptor of the mind’, LiveMint, 4 April 2013, http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/9vHjNZDcVIMRAvtDgACELM/KS-Radhakrishnan--Sculptor-of-the-mind.html)

In referencing an important prehistoric sculpture, Radhakrishnan speaks to the longevity and significance of dance, an art form that spans the world’s eras and cultures. The sculptor’s father was an actor and he notes the influence of his father's profession on his art. Aspects of dance and performance imbue Radhakrishnan's sculptures, giving them a lyrical and sensuous quality. Radhakrishnan’s works also often draw not only from prehistoric Indian culture but from the myths of the Hindu gods – Shiva, Kali and Radha.