At Bhagya Sivaraman’s home studio, she sits surrounded by art — her black line drawings on white paper cover the walls. Near her desk, is a large stand from which hang rows of earrings, each a different size, shape, and colour. There are bright pinks, checked patterns, and sunny yellows.
“Art, to me, is open-eyed meditation,” she says. She is wearing a pair of large, black and white earrings from her brand Coloured Ears. Early in 2018, the interdisciplinary artist recalls how she began experimenting working with polymer clay.
“While I loved wearing and hoarding silver and stone jewellery, I soon realised that I was allergic to nickel. I wanted to create something that I could wear without having to worry about developing an allergy, and this led me to polymer clay,” she says. Bhagya Sivaraman| Photo Credit:Special Arrangement It took her a couple of years to practise, and she recalls burning material, and even injuring herself during the making process in the initial stages.
Six years later, Bhagya knows her way around working with polymer clay, which is a hardenable modelling clay, and uses surgical stainless steel or titanium (on request), for the backs of the earrings. The making involves an 18-step process, and one that had led her to fall in love with colours, and the infinite probabilities of colour combinations. Every piece comes with a name and significance.
There is Atma, Terrazo Stones, Kintsugi, and Andromeda — the names encompassing her inspiration b.
