The nuts and bolts of creativity: a sculptor in Chennai experiments with unlikely material

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G. Sooriyamoorthy at work, creating a human face with wires. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

At first glance, it resembles a pile of wires. On closer look, the contours of a face become evident. That is the idea behind G. Sooriyamoorthy’s “The Imaginative Metal Wire Portrait of an Artist”, one of two sculptures he is preparing for Aurae Elemental, an art show where he will stage his experiments with unconventional materials and painstaking techniques spanning 26 years. His second work, “Within the Armour”, engaged with a different material and manages a distinct effect: nuts and bolts assembled into the form of a warrior.

The works might differ in appearance, but both reflect Sooriyamoorthy’s preference for materials that demand time, precision and physical effort.

“People ask me why I am using metal wire when it is so time-consuming,” he says. His welding shop is in Tambaram, requiring him to travel back and forth from his home in Ayanavaram as he works on the sculptures. “People ask why I put in so much effort when there are easier ways of creating art. For me, the effort is part of the process.”

To reach its final form, the wire portrait consumed three months. The idea came from drawing: Sooriyamoorthy imagined a face made up of multiple lines, with each wire functioning like a line on paper. Instead of lying flat, however, the lines intersect and move through space, gradually forming the figure.

The process involved little machinery. Using cutting pliers, he cut, stretched and tightened the wires before weaving them together. Continuous work for even 30 minutes to an hour could leave his hands hurting. The ponytail was particularly demanding, with individual wires cut to different lengths and shaped by hand. “No large machines were used,” he says. A small skull-like structure sits at the centre of the composition, helping hold the interwoven wires together. The construction, which resembles basket-making, gives the sculpture stability despite the thin material. The metal was also treated to achieve an antique finish.

His second sculpture began with a different challenge. Sooriyamoorthy had been looking for an opportunity to experiment with nuts and bolts when he conceived the idea of a warrior. But before he could begin welding, he had to work out the figure itself. He first made a clay model, shaping and carving the anatomy while leaving spaces for the nuts and bolts to fit. The model was then used to make a plaster of Paris mold.

The choice of plaster was practical. Welding generates considerable heat, and Sooriyamoorthy says plaster of Paris absorbs the heat and helps keep the metal cool. Fibre, another material that is generally used for larger sculptures, could pose a fire risk under welding conditions. The nuts and bolts were welded from inside the sculpture. For the warrior’s hair, he used 8 mm metal rods, bending and shaping them before welding them into place.