Enamel Revisited has a fresh take on the art, which reminds one that while oil paints on canvas may eventually fade or darken, enamels are permanent

The art of enamelling has been a showstopper through the centuries due to its brilliance and gloss, which are hard and long-lasting. It has become a substitute for inlaying of mirrors, precious and semi-precious stones and paint on metal.

The exhibition titled Enamel Revisited relives this erstwhile tradition in an entirely new avatar of collector’s art via the artistry of contemporary artists. Fashioned by 10 enamellists, who have been masters of the art for over a decade, these works reflect a combination of creativity, coupled with their unique technical practices, learnt from their family heritage or experts.

Veenu Shah, founder of Enameling Society of India, who has been creating these vivid art works for 30 years, tells us about what it means to her. She says, “It’s my life, my passion. I love its process, colours and enjoy the almost meditative sense of creating something when I am in the studio. Time seems to stand still and all the nitty-gritties and tragedies of life are pushed to the back when I am into it.” Her works, as she describes, are celebratory of the spontaneity and transience. They are “imperfect, intimate, irregular, unpretentious and above all, startlingly simple.”

Artist Deepak Sankit, master craftsman of Meenakari jewellery who is from the family of the late Deen Dayal Meenakar, aims to take his skills and designs learnt from the traditional workshops of his father to a new level. Through the techniques of cloisonné, he and his sister Preeti create bejewelled splendour and plique-a-jour, where the metal surfaces evoke a rare translucence. Ankit says, “There is a new interest in the traditional craft in Rajasthan with a market for royal-inspired jewellery and costumes and we are delighted to create these beautiful pieces keeping that mind.”

Kana Lomror’s works reflect an innovative style that has provided the input for large-scale ones in 3D and 2D formats. Hailing from Santiniketan, Lomror’s works are replete with innovative touches and experimental techniques as she uses vitreous enamelling on copper surfaces. For Kana, enamelling gives the feeling of instant gratification, “which can only come from completing an artwork after a few hours. The versatility of the medium where there are endless possibilities has always fascinated me,” says he.

Avanti Mehta cashed upon her travels through the country to stoke her artistry. She works with copper and painstakingly cuts the pieces with a fret saw, thereby making a visual grid of flora and fauna. She says, “I like to work on a miniature scale, carving away bits of copper to create a filigree of leaves or branches, within which I place the silhouettes of a bird or an insect or a butterfly and then colour them with enamel and fires.”

An enamellist whose forte is repousse work, Seema Lalit Uppal banks on her immediate surroundings as the anchor for her inspiration. She finds the way out in the natural world, which “is highly sensitised for making a lasting impact on her viewers.” The artist likes working on metal with a hammer, texturing and bending. She finds it extremely therapeutic. She says, “The play of colours and the unpredictability of the final result fascinate me. There is a beauty in uncertainty that draws me to it. Everything — the sense of playfulness of imperfection, the risks one can take with the piece — make enamelling very attractive.”

While Seema looks at enamelling as a therapeutic art form, designer Kavita Dhankar, through it, explores the possibilities of vitreous enamelling for jewellery-making as a fine art. Juxtaposing the jeweller’s art with professional artistry, her palette encompasses nature and cityscapes, which has found favour at many international workshops in Italy, Russia and Budapest.

For artist Ritu Sangal, enamelling itself has so many possibilities that she looks at it as a medium to learn new techniques, methods and a potential to experiment freely with mixing media. Her works in textile art are detailed compositions that depict the current political and social turmoils across the world.

Artist Smriti Sangal, in her works, creates patterns and enamelled surfaces that define cityscapes through her gaze. She says, “The medium has a great scope to be the top choice for art in public spaces due to its infinite possibilities.”

While for artist Triveni Mahajan, it was a thirst to learn new techniques that egged her into experimenting with enameling, cementing it into a limitless passion, for artist Jyoti Singh, it was the drama of copper being fired, hammered, cut, coloured and pierced into shapes that created landscapes, sacred spaces and pilgrimages. She thus travels to exotic destinations to connect the dots between her artistic pursuits and her inner energies.