A Window into Creativity
UNCOVERING THE ARTISTIC STORY OF SCULPTOR ANILA JACOB
Sculptor Artist Anila Jacob stands out in her chosen field of sculptures, winning awards and acclaim both in India and abroad from 1962 onwards. The aesthetics of linear rhythm from India’s art heritage flows through her sculptures.
The celebrated sculptor artist from India has received awards from the Exhibition of Ceramic Art at Washington DC, the National Award from the Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, the National Exhibition of Art, New Delhi, the Padmini Puraskaram Award and Raj Ravi Varma Award from the Kerala Lalit Kala Academy.
Her sculptures can be seen at the Kochi International Airport, and in the collections at the Madras State Lalit Kala Academy and the Central Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
Her style emphasizes lines as the main element of art expression. Decorative linearity is a telling ingredient of her carvings. Her sculptures are a mélange of ideas and elements wrought together by a sensibility, unique in expression and interpretation.
For Anila, the figurative is an instinct. Her oeuvre today constitutes a figurative genre in mixed media of metal and wood. She works with copper, brass and bronze with teak or rosewood.
Her work has two components: wooden base and upper metal image, both well-knit into a seamless unity. She fuses metal and wood with remarkable fluidity. The artist depicts rural Kerala, in its cadences: human figures riding on animals, travelling in carts or boats. Aquatic creatures like the fish and crocodile make their presence felt.
Themes and technique coalesce to make suggestive, floating movement. Her works like The Chase, Cart Ride, the Royal Procession, Journey etc., convey forward motion, in a highly individualistic style.
The figure is soaring in motion in Cart Ride; the animal, in The Chase; the wheels propel in the stately Royal Procession. All her works seem to be on life’s journey: in motion, or poised for motion.
Awards & Recognitions
- 1962, 63, 64, 66, 68, 76 and 78 – National Exhibition of Art, New Delhi.
- 1963 – Award at the Exhibition of Ceramic Art at Washington DC.
- 1964 – Artists Handicraft Association Award Madras.
- 1968 – Madras State Lalit Kala Academy Award.
- 1965 – National Award of the Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.
- 1976 – Karnataka Chithraparishath Award from Mysore State.
- 2011 – ‘Padmini Puraskaram’ Award from Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi.
- 2018 – Raja Ravi Varma Award from Kerala Lalitha kala Akademi.
- 2018 – First Woman Sculptor Award from the President of India at New Delhi.
- 2019 - General Council Member, Central Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi.