Artist Chandan Kumar Samal’s sculptures at an exhibition at Jayadev Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 1: Abstract etchings on granite attracted art lovers to sculpture exhibition Prakruti, which concluded yesterday at Jayadev Bhavan.

Artist Chandan Kumar Samal displayed his unique collection of floral creations at the exhibition. Inspired by man’s relentless effort and struggle to fulfil his dreams, Samal created nine eclectic sculptures to define man’s rat race to get to the number one position.

“People are so involved in chasing their dreams that they forget the real essence of life. They forget to enjoy and relish the gift of life. We tend to miss out on the beautiful moments and often hanker on the past. My floral creations represent our mundane life,” said Samal.

A seed transformed into a blooming flower or bud was the central theme of each of Samal’s sculptures.

The seeds represented human beings and the flowers, their goal. The route from the seed to the flower, however, was without leaves or a secondary flower.

This denoted the mechanical and lifeless journey of man to reach his goal. In one of his creations, Samal sculpted a dirty pond, made of granite, and flowers blooming from the pond.

He described it as “blooming minds entangled with filth”. Another interesting sculpture that caught the visitors’ eye was that of a seed sculpted in form of human face, depicting the lack of imagination and creativity in today’s generation.

His uniquely designed seeds and the polished cuts of granite showed the artist’s prowess in sculpting.

Samal had taken care of the minute details in the carvings. From the thin lines drawn on the seeds to the varied shapes of the stems and roots, all were in proportion and sculpted to match the entire creation. Every petal of the flowers was beautifully sculpted and the creations showed the hard work put in.

However, though the idea behind the theme might be regarded as novel, Samal failed to bring out the essence of the subject to the fullest.

For spectators the shapes of the flower seeds may have appeared slightly monotonous. A little more experimentation in designing the seeds and a touch of further creativity and imagination to carve the roots and stems of the plants would have made the collection better. Despite the absence of these minute details, Samal can definitely be regarded as an artist with a futuristic vision. The spectators too looked with awe Samal’s creations.

“The creations are beautiful. All nine of them were innovative. I especially like the one where the artist has used different flowers to denote the different paths and dreams of individuals,” said visitor Akshaya Padhi. The exhibition was inaugurated on February 27.