Ratilal Kansodaria

Ratilal Kansodaria, born in 1961, is hailed as one of the prominent contemporary Indian sculptors who is devoted to the medium of bronze. Kansodaria prefers a narrative style; though simple in theme, it has all the complexities of making for he uses the lost wax process. He works like a dexterous filmmaker who handles all the major departments in filmmaking a la master, Satyajit Ray. The simplicity of his choicest themes is not affected, however, the more one looks at his works the more one realizes how he transforms the perceived realities into a fantastic reality, taking him into a wonderland where time and language assume surreal dimensions.

A deliberate shift that Kansodaria employs in his large, as well as medium-sized works (including the small tabletop sculptures), articulates an eco-homo-centric philosophy almost replacing the homo-centric nature of narrative sculptures done by his contemporaries. The former delineates a sustainable life pattern where human beings harmoniously cohabit with their avian and beastly friends against the backdrop of wonderful foliage. On the one hand, his works highlight the ‘viswaikaneedam’ world view (the world is a singular nest) and on the other hand, Kansodaria underlines the allegorical narratives common to the erstwhile Buddhist lore. The passion and power emanating from these sculptures equate them with the aesthetical focus of the genius sculptor, Ramkinkar Baij. Though different in articulation, the worldview cherished by Baij could be seen in the works of Kansodaria and in the days when sculptors fall in love with newer materials, Kansodaria holds his singular medium up and chronicles the untold stories of a golden past and a present adorned by the shiny dust of the same past.

His exhibit with us is titled Playful Band of Balance, a bronze sculpture made in 2020.