FORTITUDE
DRUNDTA // दृंढ़ता
This series came out of my own surprise. I did not know I was capable of forging, raising or sinking flatware and vessels. In fact, before I began, I was more nervous about not having the strength needed to hammer away at the stakes to make these pieces.
This work is very different to my other pieces because they are about my recognition of my own weakness in technique. It is about how I overcame my own belief that I could not forge.
At the time, ovals and teardrop shapes were prominent in my work, but for this series, I wanted to incorporate a form that was a combination of the two. I chose shells as my inspiration because they referred back to the theme of nature often repeated in Indian patterns. The theme of repetition was resonated in the technique- consistently hammering away.
FORTITUDE I was forged from square brass stock into a curved spoon. The handle is shaped to represent an abstraction of the twisting seen in shells similar to the turret snail shell. The bowl of the spoon is almost identical to the shape of a sunray venus shell.
Drundta // दृंढ़ता
Drundta // दृंढ़ता
Drundta // दृंढ़ता
Drundta // दृंढ़ता
FORTITUDE II creates more depth with the shell form explored in this series. This bowl was raised and sunk from copper stock on hammer stakes to evolve into the unsymmetric shell shape. The depth and size of this bowl strengthened my ability in the technique.
FORTITUDE III combines forging and sinking to recreate the language of the first two pieces in the series. It is a double-handled spoon made with a smaller shell shaped bowl and textured copper stock handles to reference driftwood.
Drundta // दृंढ़ता