Mahesh Pottabathini sees his role as an art teacher as an extension of his artistic self. “The students of fine arts don’t need a teacher; they need a fellow artist to help them enhance their strengths and to explore possibilities with their innate thought processes. As a guide, I always wish that my students’ works should surpass my own creations in terms of expressive prowess,” he says.
Mahesh’s paper woven works are a part of an ongoing international show titled, Life in art Recycling story-2018, at Gangneung art centre in South Korea. These works absorb much from the weft and warp involved in weaving. On such a surface, he creates his imagery which is very personal and contemporary. The process involves cutting of two works into strips and later weaving them together into a single composition.
“Weaving has been a part and parcel of my growing up years in my village. Being a weaver and later an artist, I thought of blending both the prominent aspects of my entity into a single form of expression and that’s how I started working in this technique,” he explains.
Mahesh Pottabathini
Mahesh’s woven series of works are figurative and based on varied themes and creative portraits as well as simplified, minimalistic depictions. One of the works is based on the tool used for weaving called the ‘Usa’ or spindle. The artist recreates its form and titles it as ‘Mother’. With windings of multicoloured threads rolled on it, the form of the spindle is recreated in simplified rhythmic lines and the composition is rich in multiple pixels obtained due to paper weaving. The square shaped pixels define the form as well as soften its silhouette in a stylistically rich manner. The work conveys the idea that just as the spindle is an indispensible part of weaving a cloth, a mother is important for a child’s life and holistic wellness.
While talking about the present show and his inspirations, Mahesh says, “I have always admired my father’s passion for Pochampally weaving and his unconditional dedication to his work. He is seventy-five years old and still weaves and is now the only person of his generation from our village to take the tradition forward. For him, work is like a form of worship. If I am able to absorb even a small percentage of his dedication, my journey as an artist would be meaningful and rewarding,” says Mahesh.
