Age no bar: Retired professionals turn artist with ceramic, glass and stone works

New Delhi, About 15 years ago, Lalit Kumar Das decided to try his hand at creating ceramic art. Retired as former head of Instrument Design and Development Centre at IIT Delhi, designing came naturally to him even though the medium was new.

Das is one of the five retired professionals from different sectors who started learning ceramic art some 15 years ago as a way of “rediscovering life” in their retirement years. And now, they are showcasing over 100 art works in ceramic, glass and stoneware at an ongoing exhibition, “Explorations 3”, at India Habitat Centre’s Visual Arts Gallery here.

The group exhibition features works by former professionals across fields such as IT, aviation and academia, created under the mentorship of Kashi Pottery founder Rajesh Srivastava and Potter’s Heaven founder Preeti Thakur Pandey.

“Everyone has played with clay as a child, it felt familiar to choose as the medium for my learning. The idea of dabbling with canvas and paint felt frightening,” Das told PTI.

His creations reflect the interconnectedness of nature, humanity, and imagination.

“Trees, human faces, and animals dominate my work, serving as symbolic vessels through which I delve into emotions, stories, and relationships. Each piece springs from an organic creative process, marked by experimentation and a willingness to embrace imperfection,” the 79-year-old said.

After spending several years in the IT and consultancy industry, Nandita Jain Mahajan ventured into the world of ceramics, “driven by a desire to reconnect with creativity and rediscover the joys of making”.

With a diverse array of ceramic works on display, Mahajan lets her imagination take control of the shapes that come out of the kiln.

“So if there’s a voice that says make me and which is the whimsical figures then I will have to do those whimsical figures. There is something compelling in my head. Even in my whimsical figure, each figure has a different emotion and that is the emotion that is there in my heart which will find its way in the clay and in the figure,” the 64-year-old said.

Her art works are inspired by fairy tales, jewel beetles, and botanical illustrations on stoneware, porcelain, earthenware, and terracotta, with surface decoration ranging from underglazes, Spanish lustres, and traditional Chinese and Japanese glazes.

Speaking about working with the group of artists, Pandey said that it was different to teach them as they all have come after years of working in different environments.

“When somebody comes to learn fine art, they already have an inclination towards that kind of thing. But here, they come from different fields and teaching them art is a little different. I wouldn’t say difficult, but they learned fast and evolved their artistic expressions on the way. Each artist here has a very distinct expression,” Pandey said.

The exhibition also features works by Anjana Maheshwari, former director of Air India; academician Ranjana Subberwal; and Srirupa Sen, retired professor of chemistry at Lucknow University.

While Maheshwari has found her voice in creating Madhubani art on clay tiles, pots and bowls using incising and brushwork, Srirupa Sen’s vividly colourful works with warm glass is reflective of her time spent in Italy.

The exhibition will come to an end on April 13.

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