VARADHARAJI VEERAPATHIRAN, STONE SCULPTOR

Varadharaji Veerapathiran (born 1971) is an Indian sculptor. He lives in Karanai village and works in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu in southern India. Varadharaji makes his sculptures from stone, chiefly from granite.

Varadharaji has studied classical Indian architecture and sculpture at Government College of Architecture and Sculpture between 1985 and 1994 in Mahabalipuram. After his studies, he has amassed a unique artistic oeuvre, easily combining classical Indian elements and modern, abstract shapes drawn from Western art. 

• In my view, I began making art already at the age of two or three, when my mother prepared food during the festival season. To help her I, I molded bread and pastries as I pleased. From the very beginning, I wanted to make things after my own heart. I remember I hid some of the foodstuffs in my pockets to carry on molding later, Varadharaji says.  

Most of Varadharaji’s sculptures are female figures, which he depicts at different sizes, engaged in a variety of daily chores. The relaxed disposition of the sculptures can confuse the viewer - his imagery is psychologically insightful and free from the constraints of conventional standards of beauty. Varadharaji’s female shapes act, socialize, labor, and pose full of calm self-awareness. Sometimes the figures are more introverted, even lonely. Regardless, taken together they form a larger whole, a group of individuals who act independently but belong together like the inhabitants of a village.

• A woman is an impressive character at any age. The woman is always the focal point. Gazes of both men and women always seek out the woman. The woman is a mix of softness, sensibility, strength and beauty. The beauty of men is different, tells Varadharaji.

Sculptural metamorphoses are a quintessential of Varadharaji’s work. Many of his sculptures consider a multitude of subjects, and the sculptures appear entirely transformed when viewed from different directions. An elephant figure can mutate into a hefty old man and again into a melancholic lady, and the reverse of a female figure might reveal a whole another gender. The states of being of the sculpted characters shift and mutate, and these transitions are rendered with great tenderness and compassion.

In addition to human shapes Varadharaji’s sculptures feature cows, elephants, fish, and birds. As in mythical parables, the animal figures merge together with the human ones, yet these amalgamations are portrayed in a fresh, contemporary manner.

• I believe everything that exists to be art. For this reason, I like all kinds of art. All art requires thought and actualization. Some art is not necessarily mature, but I still like it, like adolescent trees full of raw fruit.

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