I just love this artwork, “Sun-sneezers Blow Light Bubbles” by Ranjani Shettar.
This piece is a large scale sculptural installation made in 2007-8 from stainless steel, Muslim cloth, tamarind paste & lacquer.
I’m so impressed by the way the artist masterfully uses such a diverse range of materials with incredible skill - combining traditional crafts, techniques & materials with more industrial ones - to explore natural phenomena and the relationship between humans and nature. I am always most drawn to constructed/ assembled sculptures and I really admire the sense of integrity Shettar achieves, between her materials, her forms and what she is exploring/communicating. To me, her works bring into focus the ethereal beauty and incredible qualities of the natural world and elicits a sense of wonder in us for things we might otherwise take for granted.
In this piece she explores the bizarre effect of sunlight causing some people to spontaneously sneeze (known as the photic sneeze reflex).
Are you a sun sneezer? I am! Not a popular affliction at the moment!