Etching the Myth

HYDERABAD: City-based architect Srinivasa Babu Angara, who designs murals and sculptures and executes them on granite, marble, wood and cement, has piqued his interest in metals — copper and brass. His latest work is antique-looking brass and copper etchings which he titled: ‘Ana gana ga’ (once upon a time). The artist aims to bring out the child in us by transporting our imagination to the stories we heard as a child through these etchings, which he says, are different from any other. 

Ana gana ga, the etchings from mythical lore, begins on Thursday at Gallery 78, Shilpa Layout, Izzathnagar. Srinivasa, who was still shifting the etchings from his studio to gallery for the exhibit, caught up with CE just a day ahead of his first metal exhibit. “Most artists take prints from the etched plates and reciprocate the piece. I take the plates themselves. They are not the prints, each of the 35 brass and copper etched pieces are actual plates that are etched, painted and scraped,” he tells CE.

He adds that these etchings are different in not only in the technique used but the theme. “I hope to bring out the child in each one of us. In fact, this very aim is the inspiration behind the work. The etchings depict the myths and lores I have heard and imagined as a child. It’s all about the stories that took shape, once upon a time.”  

Speaking more about the technique the artist shares, “Although I had vivid images moving in my head, I wanted to fit them into basic, generic forms. Meaning, in symbolic forms, without losing the proportion, where the essence remains intact.” 

The artist, to make the work extraordinary, used paint along with the etchings. “I laid some colours and scraped them to highlight the base image (etchings), where the rest of the image contains intricate details but remains abstract,” says he. 

What: Exhibition and sale of brass and copper etchings 
Where: Gallery 78, Rd Number 3, next to Hitex gate
When: From Thursday, 7 pm onwards