The internet was recently flooded with photographs of a lifelike sculpture of a lady in a pink sari, Madhavi, the deceased wife of industrialist Srinivas Gupta at a housewarming function in Koppal, Karnataka. City-based sculptor K Sridhar Murthy, the man behind the statue and a sculptor with many other works to his credit, says it was one of his most challenging works.
Guests who came to the function were surprised by the detailing of the statue. “This was the toughest part of the work. The statue is not just for display, it has an emotional connect, which has to be captured,” he says.
The story behind the statue
It was a trip to Singapore and the Madame Tussauds museum there that inspired the thought of exploring lifelike statues for Sridhar. “I was impressed by the statues there, after I came back I started making wax statues. I suggested that a wax statue of Siddalinga Swami should be placed at Tontadarya Mutt, Gadag, and an order was placed,” he says.
It was at the opening ceremony of this statue, that Srinivas Gupta and his architect met Sridhar. “He spoke about making his wife’s statue in wax. I suggested that a wax statue would not be good for domestic purpose and is only good for display at a temperature up to 24° C.”
After a lot of research, discussions and working on other statues, Sridhar suggested working with silicone for the statue. “It is flexible and has extreme details. One can dress the statue and style the hair accordingly,” he says. He referred to a lot of Madhavi’s photographs when working on the statue.
Varied statues to his name
Sridhar has earlier worked on cement, fibre glass and bronze statues, which were of god and goddesses, political heroes and renowned personalities. Coming from a lineage of sculptors, Sridhar decided to apprentice under his father Shilpi Kashinath, who did most of the work on the biggest Shiva statue in Murudeshwar. “My father fell ill and I had to take over the work suddenly. In his guidance, I continued the work, after which I made a lot of other statues.”
One of his other popular works is the Shiva statue at Solophok Chardham, Sikkim. He has done many statues in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In Bengaluru, he worked with his father on the Shiva statue on Old Airport Road, which is a majestic sight. “I also worked with him on a Sri Krishna Vishwaroopadarshan statue on Nelamangala Road,” he says.
He is currently working on a gigantic statue of saint reformer Basavanna in Kengeri. His other notable works in the city are all the statues of Lakshmi Temple, Seshadripuram and a chariot done on Tumkur Road. “I have made around 25 statues across the city,” he sums up.
About Gombay Mane
Sridhar has a studio called ‘Gombay Mane’, near Nagasandra, which was started in 2015. There are 15 sculptors working there. “A lot of students from Chitrakala Parishath come and intern with us,” he says.