Karnataka - Bangalore

Every bit of scrap helps his creation

Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

Neat improvisation: S.M. Krishna, MP, having a look at an artwork created from metallic junk at the Chitrakala Parishat in Bangalore on Monday. —

Bangalore: Perhaps for Ilyas Ahmed, a garage is a box of magic, where every piece of scrap is art-in-progress, waiting for the right eye to spot it.

The Bangalore-based Mr. Ahmed displays his fantastical experience with automobile parts, scraps of metal and domestic waste material that suddenly come to life in 10-foot-high dinosaurs, Godzilla-like figurines and dog-headed aliens, changing the landscape of the exhibition area of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, making it seem like an otherworldly invasion.

Each of the figurines is highly ornate and has been intricately put together with thousands of automobile parts. One of Mr. Ahmed’s most elaborate creations is his Native American sculpture. A chiselled face, a metallic costume and a weapon in hand, the figurine has a beautifully welded headgear making it stand out from the rest of the displays.

“I began doing this as a hobby in 1993,” says Mr. Ahmed. At the time, he was an employee in an oil company, spending long hours on ships, and has now developed this art into a passion that occupies most of his waking hours. According to him, his most elaborate creation is the dog-headed alien, more than 10 feet tall, looming like a predator. A few metres away, two metallic horses with a stationary bunch of chains for tails, grab one’s attention. The entire collection is surreal, out of a science fiction movie. “I wanted to do something different — create different sculptures with different structures, made from different materials,” says Mr. Ahmed, certain that he has achieved this when he sees people gaze at his work in amazement for minutes together.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu