FOOT MAT

Ajay Kanwal’s work is intentionally integrated with the environment, allowing it to merge and not be overtly noticeable. This chameleon-like aspect allows him to play with perception and preconception, questioning what is real and what isn’t. Though ceramics is perceived as a fragile medium, Foot Mat, consisting of more than 10,000 individual pieces of high-fired porcelain, attempts to break this perception. Viewers are invited to stand, walk or run on the Foot Mat which at first glance looks like rubber. According to the artist, the audience reaction when they realise it is made of clay is rather interesting: they avoid stepping on it. Ajay explores and investigates illusion and reality in his work. For him illusion complements reality, and in understanding both, one approaches complete understanding.

Supported by Mr. Hitesh Rana, Director, Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara

AJAY KANWAL has a BFA in Sculpture from the Institute of Music and Fine Arts, Jammu and an MFA from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, where he currently teaches sculpture. Ajay has won numerous grants from MSU and Lalit Kala Akademi. He received the Junior Fellowship from the Indian Ministry of Culture, the AIFACS Award and an HRD National Scholarship. Ajay has completed several art commissions all over India and has actively participated in solo and group shows in the UK, USA and India, and in camps in Baroda, Puduchery, Jammu, New Delhi and Tripura. He was artist-in-residence at De Montfort University, England, UK in 2013.