Sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik (extreme left), actor Akash Das Nayak (third from left), actress Archita Sahu (sixth from left) and former India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey (second from right) at the exhibition in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, April 18: From grains of sand to pixels, sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik’s sculptures have migrated to a new medium to grab eyeballs.

What has time and again mesmerised onlookers on sand caught the attention of art lovers at the Lalit Kala Akademi gallery in the capital where Patnaik showcased photographs of his sand sculptures printed on canvas.

The exhibition — Imaginations in Sand — concluded on Tuesday evening.

The photograph of one of his most impressive creations, one that highlighted communal harmony, was bought by a local organisation for a cool Rs 5 lakh.

Photographs of 108 sand sculptures were put up on display at the exhibition. What was unique about the photographs was that they had a layer of sand and colour added artistically to give them a three-dimensional effect.

“This experiment was a one-of-its-kind attempt in the world to bring sand art to a gallery since my art form is known to be transitory,” said Patnaik.

“To give the 3-D effect to each photograph, I have used sand from the same beach in different countries where I had created the various sand sculpture on. This has transformed the photographs into art installations,” he said.

The photographs were displayed in different sections at the exhibition, each featuring a theme, which varied from environment to social issues.

Saving trees, tigers and Olive Ridley turtles were clubbed together in one segment while social themes such as AIDS, saving the girl child and so on were displayed in a separate section.

The exhibition also featured sand art dedicated to personalities. These included tributes to Michael Jackson, Bismillah Khan and others, “get well soon” messages for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and superstar Amitabh Bachchan and so on.

Visitors were seen admiring the watercolour and oil paintings that Patnaik exhibited. Another highlight was the exhibition of sand samples from various countries.

“The best part about the exhibition was that it gave the viewers a chance to explore the medium of sand for art. Also, all the exhibited works have been treated with a different layer of sand, which makes each a unique piece of art,” said actor Akash Das Nayak, who was present at the concluding ceremony along with celebrities such as former India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey and actress Archita Sahu.

“A similar exhibition will be held in Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore followed by shows in New York and London this year,” said Patnaik.