Two paintings and a sculpture on display at the exhibition. Pictures by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 23: Six young research scholars of the Rashtriya Lalit Kala Akademi showcased their works at an ongoing exhibition titled Odyssey.

The artists were selected for a yearlong scholarship at the Akademi in 2012. They used this opportunity to create the innovative works of art.

Mayadhar Sahu, 25, from Mayurbhanj has displayed sculptures created with marble and iron. From eggs to potatoes, lady’s finger, jackfruit to plantain — there’s almost everything carved out of marbles and they have been displayed in a basket woven out of iron strips that look like cane. He has pierced thousands of nails on the marble to create the jackfruit.

Mayadhar is now pursuing a master’s degree in visual arts in Baroda.

Chhattisgarh boy Gyanesh Patel, also a research grantee of the Bhubaneswar chapter of the Akademi, has showcased his series of landscapes. Intricate floral patterns and interesting images in the sea of shaded geometric figures and abstract sketches makes his works stand out.

Bhadrak boy Azizur Rahman Shah has represented the digital age in his paintings with the use of barcodes and other things.

The young artist captures the changes in life that has come with the new modes of communication.

In his series of sculptures titled Erosion, Mukesh Kumar Singh of Bihar has carved stones to form apples. But the stone has an eroded look. “It represents the erosion in values,” said the sculptor.

Rajiv Pradhan from Jharkhand gives an artistic depiction of the Big Bang theory in his series The Beginning. We see a fuming blast out of which colourful spheres come out. The colours and shapes of the spheres are interesting in the huge paintings.

Odia boy Saroj Kumar Rout from Kendrapara has presented a set of ceramic sculptures and stoneware. His labour of love is evident in the works where he has shown the alarming number of cars in the cities. In another work, he has shown the typical group walk of ants.

“The Research Grant Programme is designed by the Akademi for young and upcoming visual artists to enable them to pursue individual research. With the works that the youngsters have displayed at the show, we feel that the objectives of the research grant is largely fulfilled,” said Ramahari Jena, regional secretary of the Akademi.

The show was inaugurated on Wednesday in the presence of filmmaker Nirad Mohapatra, theatre personality Anant Mohapatra, sculptor Adwaita Gadanayak and artist and art historian Dinanath Pathy. The exhibition will continue till September 24.