Grinding Wheels

Grinding stones were once found in almost every home and village in India. They were humble working objects, shaped by years of use rather than by design. As electric mills replaced them, they slowly disappeared from everyday life. I have always been drawn to these abandoned objects because they carry the memory of labour, ritual and the touch of countless hands.
This series does not seek to reproduce old grinding stones. Instead, they become starting points for ceramic sculptures that explore time, surface and transformation. Fired in a wood kiln with soda vapour, the clay records the movement of flame, ash and atmosphere. Fire becomes an active collaborator, leaving each piece with a surface that cannot be repeated.
My work leans towards a rugged, wood-fired aesthetic where I often allow the unpredictability of clay and fire to complete the work. The carved surfaces are inspired by the visual language scattered across South India; temple walls, worn pillars, roadside shrines, weathered stones, graffiti and fragments of forgotten architecture. Some symbols are borrowed, others imagined, until it becomes difficult to distinguish memory from invention. The red dot that I often use, has become a signature of sorts in my body of work, adding the sacred touch to an object it touches.
Although these forms no longer grind grain, they continue to turn as symbols. Their circular geometry speaks of cycles, labour, ritual and the passing of time. They are everyday objects transformed into contemporary artefacts, carrying traces of both the sacred and the ordinary.
I am interested in the point where utility gives way to contemplation. By removing these objects from their original function and reimagining them in clay, I hope they invite a slower way of looking. Their surfaces encourage the viewer to search for stories, to recognise familiar marks and to imagine forgotten histories. Once tools of daily life, these grinding wheels become quiet monuments to memory, place and the enduring dialogue between material, fire and human touch.