Ceramic artist Sovan Kumar in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 6: Sovan Kumar trained college students at a ceramic art demonstration organised by the regional centre of Lalit Kala Akademi recently. Now, he is showcasing his work at a home décor exhibition on in the city.

Kumar is among the handful of artists who intend to popularise the art here.

With his father being an official working with State Museum, Kumar grew up observing art and culture very closely. While studying at the sculpture department of the BK College of Art and Crafts, he worked extensively on terracotta.

After his graduation, he went to do his masters from Banaras Hindu University. His hard work paid off and he won a scholarship from the Union ministry of culture and went to Beijing for two years where he not only learnt the art but also the language.

“I studied at an international art school there and had classmates from many Asian countries. I got the opportunity of organising some solo exhibitions at festivals such as China International Art Exposition, Dalian International Art Fair and Guangzhou International Art Fair,” said the 44-year-old artist.

After that, Kumar became a globetrotter attending art camps and participating in art exhibitions in Paris, Singapore, New York and other places. But he wanted to popularise ceramic art in his hometown. “Many Odia artists have comfortably settled down in different parts of the country solely because there are enough opportunities. But I am based out of Bhubaneswar now and find no problem in communicating with different artists and curators based in other cities and simultaneously work towards promoting ceramics,” said Kumar, originally from Old Town.

To meet the rising demands in the art sector, Kumar also learnt painting and photography but his first love remains ceramic.

“Ceramic is yet to catch the imagination of contemporary artists. In Odisha, none of the art schools teach it. There are very few studios where budding artists can practise. Moreover, ceramic art is slightly expensive as the raw materials are costlier,” he said.