Jyotsna Bhatt

A renowned ceramist and potter, Jyotsana Bhatt learnt sculpture under Sankho Chaudhuri. It was during this tenure that she discovered her love for making three-dimensional figures, since anything flat did not evoke any interest. "Training at Baroda enhanced my sense of form, texture and color," she had said.

Her ceramic works predominantly include images of cats and dogs. The clay toys she has created are distinctive, each having an identity of its own. She says, "I hate repeating my forms which is why I don't like to go commercial. Making identical sets would bore me." The dome of a wheel was one of her favourite forms. "It is so round, so serious and sensuous," in her own words. When the dome, made of clay, is partially dry, she would cut it, etch on it, join it together and make a design. There was a method to her work where every piece was first conceptualized, visualized and then executed.

She would often say, "I use colours and textures, I have obtained through judicious accidents or emergent from a long and attentive practice."

Jyotsana Bhatt lived and worked in Baroda, until her passing away in 2021.

Her work at this exhibition is her last etching print; this has been in-signed by Jyoti Bhatt, her husband. Her work on display with us is titled Cats and Pots an Intaglio print made in 2020.