Khurda: Satyabrat Sethy’s house at Baghmari village in Khurda district also serves as a workshop for his sculptures.
The striking feature of his figurines of gods, goddesses, animals and birds is that they are all carved out of soap bars.
Satyabrat belongs to a poor family. The roof of his house is dotted with so many leaks that rainwater often floods his floor. But these hardships failed to deter him from continuing his passion. Sitting on a rain-soaked floor, he continues giving shape to his artistic imagination.
“I can’t exactly recall when the penchant for sculpting grew on me. But I used to have a weakness for the art. Due to poverty I had to leave my education midway through and started working as a daily labourer for sculpture master Kalpataru Panda ten years ago. Recognising my interest in the art, he started giving training to me,” he said.
When asked how he discovered the soap carving artist in him, he said once he was just toying with a set of chisels and a bar of bath soap and a beautiful figurine of lord Krishna came out. That inspired him, and he went on carving out figurines of gods, goddesses, national leaders, animals and birds.
“As people came to know about my talent, they started visiting me and buying my works. But what they are offering me is far less compared to the labour that goes into it,” he said.
“Carving any figure out of a bar of soap is not an easy task. You have to be focused and careful, otherwise, a slight damage can break it and your entire labour will go to waste. First a figure is to be imagined in 3D before chiseling out the extra soap. Here patience is the key,” he added.
His sculptures are selling between Rs 50 and 150. “In this modern age, people are more interested in shiny, decorative articles. So I have to sell them at a cheap price against my wish,” he observed.
Even though this art form is not coming under any government schemes for handicrafts, government encouragement will definitely help the art form reach a wider audience.
PNN
