Krishna Prasad’s work of art is all about intricacy and perfection. The use of metal wires to make figurines is luring.
He has lost count of the number of pieces he has created in the last couple of years after he started this hobby but quickly adds that he remembers to have created 150 pieces in the last one year alone.
Krishna picked up his hobby as a child, “As a child, I used to make toys and art from junk. I used eggshells, toothpaste boxes and old bottles to make objects. I made a penguin out of an ‘Ujjala dabba’,” he recollects.
His art went a step further and assumed a definite purpose in 2007 when his house was being built. “I began fiddling with binding wires, which was for the house and soon came up with a humanoid shape using the wire. This developed into better versions of it, and I started using different wires and made different figures,” he says. He later started gifting customised action figures and animals to his friends made according to their tastes.
The challenge in this particular art is to get the proportions right. How long does he take to complete a piece? “It takes anything from an hour and a half for a small figure to 12 hours for the more detailed and larger sculptures,” he says.
Krishna adds that it is important to study the structure of what is being made. “You have to make sure all the actions are right in the sculpture. I start by sketching my ideas. This is to
have a mental construct for the whole proportion. I then build a skeleton, foreseeing the structure and size of it. I later build upon the skeleton, reinforcing the structure giving it mass, form and detail. Finally, I paint and present it according to people’s requirements,” he explains.
Krishna concedes that it is challenging to work with wires, but it leaves him with a great sense of accomplishment. The art has done a world of good to Krishna.
He shares, “It has given me so much peace of mind; I don’t have to listen to anybody, nor do I have to reproduce what they say. When I am practising my art, I am creating something new and my focus is on figuring out the details and overcoming the challenges. So, this entire concept of creating something new has always helped me de-stress.”
Talking about the most challenging piece that he has created so far, Krishna says, “One piece which was very challenging, both mentally and physically, was a three-feet high Bonsai tree. It took me six days to finish it as it had a lot of intricate details. I had to create each twig on the tree and piece together the tiny leaves.”