Drama in driftwood
Asked what problems she faces, Priyobhashini says that she enjoys the struggles. She must preserve her wood pieces in salt, water and mulberry and boil them for hours at a stretch. She collects her driftwood in her daily activity, as she goes about her routine work, sometimes even collecting them from dust bins. When she works she has only her helper who assists her with hammer and saw. If any guest comes while she is working, she puts her work aside. She says she would have liked to have studied fine arts formally but at this stage in life, suffering from severe diabetes, she refrains from any such effort.
Her conventional themes include a swan with the wings spread out, created from a krishnachura tree. There is another one on Mother Teresa, contrasting with the collection of seven storks built from dried coconut shells and dead branches of trees. There was then a presentation of the romance of Leda and the swan.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Among the new works is the collage of a young woman dancing in spring. At the back are bits of burnt charcoal and fragments of wood pieces stuck with gum. There was then the large lyrical piece with giant mushroom blooms and slim stems, which was named "goddess of flowers". "Chandrabilash", which dealt with the beauty of moonlit night, had been created with ivy leaves. "Taaler shash" and old dried branches of money plant had been used in another creation presenting two contented birds. "Sritir allindo" brought in windows in a haunted house, opening out to the past.
Earlier Priyobhashini dealt with war, struggle and the injustices of life. In the present exhibition she has concentrated on love and the graceful forms of birds and women.
This time, again, instead of clay pots, there were remnants of trees, in the form of driftwood, containing fresh green plants with decorative leaves like money plants and "patabahar". She has attempted to bring in a geometry of sculpture in plant life by controlling the growth and spread of plants by placing them in wooden forms. Living creepers, bits of earth and pieces of wood create joie de vivre.
She has taken part in 10 group shows and has had nine solo exhibitions.