The dawdling, gentle beauty of Aman Poddar’s patterns
Dissolve/Love by Aman Poddar
Aman Poddar’s meticulously hand-engraved jewellery and artwork derives inspiration from the patterns of nature, while also embodying the idea of slow living, of the practice of stopping and contemplating.
It could be argued that there is no greater treasure trove of pattern than the ones spotted in the natural world. The fractal patterns, or the patterns we see in nature, not only evoke admiration at their sheer beauty, but also compel us to pause and slow down, to take time, examine, and hope to understand the depths underlying these very designs.
Bangalore-based jewelry maker Aman Poddar’s meticulously hand-engraved jewellery derives inspiration from the patterns of nature, while also embodying the idea of slow living, of the practice of stopping and contemplating. This intersection of aesthetics and function found a home in late October at the exhibition Ekab (which means “one”) at Akara Art, Mumbai.
Jewellery engraving
As someone who grew up being exposed to art and design—his father collecting art since he himself was young—Poddar was constantly engaging with works of art as well as its creators and practitioners. However, it was only after he finished college and joined the family business that he realised that the latter was not his calling. “I never really thought of making a career out of art,” says Poddar, “I had always enjoyed whatever craft I had tried my hands at, I just never thought I would make it full time.”
However, once he made the concrete decision to explore the field of art and design, Poddar was particular about working with objects that were more inclined towards aesthetics as opposed to being purely functiona—say, furniture, for example. He found himself deciding between jewellery or fashion, extensively researching both to understand what both these fields entailed. “I then encountered the works of the jeweller, Viren Bhagat in Bombay and became sold on the idea of jewellery,” he says. Poddar adds that, while different fields of design fascinate him and that he primarily wants to make beautiful things, he knew he had to start somewhere—and so, jewellery it was. “It’s exciting and appealing for me,” says Poddar. “This is the medium which I am expressing myself in right now.”
Poddar says that in a natural world, more or less everything embodies ‘Li’. “It might be cliched to say people are inspired by nature—however, objectively, it is what is most beautiful and it’s hard not to be inspired by it.”
Following an internship at Tholia’s Kuber in Jaipur, Poddar pursued a three-month practical course in bench jewellery (which he describes as “making jewellery with [one’s] hands” at New Approach School for Jewellers in Tennessee, United States. It was then he found himself drawn towards engraving which appealed to his love of detail “Besides its potential to be super detailed, I also enjoy the play of light that comes about through engraving,” he says, elaborating that the cuts made at different angles allow light to bounce in a way that he finds fascinating.
The act of engraving conjures up a meditative state, too. “It definitely can be meditative,” says Poddar. “Though it can be hard to be in that state all the time.” The artist adds that even the simple act of folding clothes or eating food can conjure up a similar state too, as long as one gives it their full attention. What emerges from his words is the importance of paying and holding on to attention, a thought which is more pertinent than ever in these attention-strapped times.
In one of her essays, the poet Mary Oliver wrote “attention is the beginning of devotion.” Poddar creates and cuts the alloyed sheets of metal and then subsequently engraves them to create his jewellery, all entirely by hand, not employing mechanisation unlike other engraving practitioners. This attention to both the craft of making the piece, as well as the pattern, is certainly akin to a kind of devotion in itself.
Where then do the patterns in his pieces spring forth from, given that patterns are an integral part of his work, incorporating his every creation? Like art and design, patterns had also always greatly fascinated Poddar, ever since a teacher introduced patterns to him as a child—such as those containing some degree of variation within a fixed structure.
Anaar by Aman Poddar
When he encountered the idea of Li through the writings of philosopher and theologian, Alan Watt, he felt that it articulated what he had always felt about patterns. A traditional Chinese word, Li refers to ever-present set of patterns which flow through everything in nature and in one’s perceptions of the world. Watts went on to describe it as “the asymmetrical, nonrepetitive, and unregimented order which we find in the patterns of moving water, the forms of trees and clouds, of frost crystals on the window, or the scattering of pebbles on beach sand.” Poddar says that in a natural world, more or less everything embodies Li. “It might be cliched to say people are inspired by nature—however, objectively, it is what is most beautiful and it’s hard not to be inspired by it.” His work therefore takes an idea or element from something [in nature] that grabs his attention and reinterprets it in a new way.
Browsing through the images of his upcoming exhibition, one observes how his love for attention, detail, and appreciation of the patterns found in nature converge and manifest in his works: the many-textured Torchginger flower, for instance, or Crownshyness, a phenomenon seen in trees where canopies do not touch one another. In the silver piece, Flowerburst, the pattern can represent the fragmenting of a flower or the coming together of materials, such as as during the birth of a celestial body. The golden piece, Anaar, meanwhile is an intricate cross-section of the fruit, containing the myriad seeds within.
Apart from the jewellery and larger tiles with jewellery pieces framed inside them, there are also several drawings which will be forming part of the show, such as the intricate, maze-like work, Dissolve/Love. “I would say that my works are kind of drawings you can wear, given that there are no gemstones or other external embellishments,” he says of the work shown at the exhibition, combined with the pieces’ all crucial functional aspect. While Poddar says that he primarily creates the jewellery for himself, specifically the satisfaction derived from the process of making it, the exhibition was also a much-needed motivator, something that he could work towards. “I do want the people to see and interact with the pieces and this exhibition would be the best way to do it,” he says.
In the end, Poddar hopes that those engaging with and wearing the pieces will think more about embracing slowness, of giving attention to whatever it is that they are doing without always being in a hurry or rush to perform another task or activity.
“Just as I found meditation and yoga to benefit my life in ways nothing else as, compelling you to slow down, this work is similar to that,” says Poddar. “The process taking so many hours… to craft something which is, ultimately, only a few centimetres across.”
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Priyanka Sacheti is a writer and poet based in Bangalore, India. She grew up in the Sultanate of Oman and has previously lived in United Kingdom and United States. She has been published in many publications, including Guardian, Literary Hub, Hyperallergic, and Scroll, with a special focus on art, gender, diaspora, and identity. Her literary work and art have appeared in various literary journals and anthologies. She's currently working on a poetry and short story collection. She can be found on Instagram: @anatlasofallthatisee and Twitter: @priyankasacheti.
