Dr. Bhawani Shankar

This sculpture advances the series’ mask-like explorations into a sharper, more geometric register. The assemblage of welded scrap metal creates a rigid frontal face: two circular pipes project forward as eyes, while a long rectangular piece descends as a pronounced nose, giving the structure a commanding vertical axis. Around this core, triangular plates flare outward like stylized ears or headgear, enhancing its graphic symmetry and evoking tribal or ceremonial adornment. Curved rods encircle the central features, reinforcing the mask’s outline and suggesting both containment and ritual framing.

The bottom section, with its layered openings of circular and square cutouts, hints at a mouth or vocal chamber, imbuing the mask with a sense of latent voice or mechanical breath. The welding scars and uneven textures betray its industrial origins, yet the overall composition reads less as debris and more as a deliberate emblem of identity and authority.