Meera Mukherjee (1923-98)

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Meera Mukherjee | Biography | Life | Artworks

Meera Mukherjee Biography

The sculptures of Meera Mukherjee have always been a passionate expression of life—an instinctive quality of romanticism rendered with sensitive artistry.

Her immense creative energy and intensely emotional approach have lent a rare expressive quality to her works. Ordinary men and women toil- ing in their daily lives, assume a special significance in her perceptive rendering of form and detail.

She has shaped her sculptures in the ancient tribal method of casting i.e., the lost-wax process, commonly used by the tribal image-makers—the Dhokras of West Bengal, Ghoruas of Bastar and the Malhars of Bihar.

She has given a new turn to the use of their technique which lays great emphasis on surface textures. She makes full use of texturally rich metal surfaces to convey a sense of personality in a novel formulation of figurative forms.

Her forms and expressions are the results of the media and the technical processes she employs.

Pankhawala by Meera Mukherjee

Meera had a remarkable grasp Of the material and articulated the three-dimensional body with a sensory and emotional approach.

In her castings, her new technique provided for volume articulation of solids, as well as sculptural expressions with an abundance of textural variations.

She used her technique for larger sizes and bigger volumes than it was used traditionally.

MEERA MUKHERJEE (1923-1998) | People in a Row

Her works of the mid-1960s, such as The Gur”, He who Saw and The Bamen Avatar are remarkable examples of her mastery over the technique; possessing not only a strong sense of the physical but also a throbbing rhythmic movement.

Meera’s approach to form is remarkably simple. Summarising the emotional swings of life she fuses realities and fantasies with great subtlety.

Her sculptures of fisher-folk and basket weavers reveal a strong sense of identity. Her mother- figures are original variations of a traditional theme.

Her sculptures on music and folk musicians possess a distinctive melody, texture, and harmony.

Her memorable works on the devastation caused by the 1978 floods, and the chemical gas tragedy in Bhopal in 1984, are powerful expressions of her deep concern for humanity.

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