23 Facts About Pilloo Pochkhanawala

Pilloo Pochkhanawala was among the first few women sculptors in India.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala's pieces were inspired by nature or often took the form of human figures.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala's oeuvre includes intricate drawings, theatrical sets, although she is well known for her sculptures.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala was brought up in the household of her paternal grandparents in a traditional joint family consisting of three children and eleven grandchildren.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala visited these places during her childhood, out of which Zanzibar impressed her the most, especially because of its African Voodoo cult rites.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala became a part of cultural and political changes that were happening with the rise of Quit India Movement whilst World War II.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala was on an assignment to create posters and advertisement displays for the national airline, Air India.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala decided to devote herself entirely to sculpture after returning to Bombay.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala's visit to temple sites around the country piqued her interest in the art and history of Indian sculpture.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala admired the fluidity and liveliness of these sculptures, which had a profound impact on her creations.

Largely experimental in her approach, Pilloo Pochkhanawala's oeuvre includes a range of materials and approaches from wood, cement, metal, mesh and transparent sheets, eventually turning to "found" and scrap metal, welding and casting them to make her signature forms.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala is best remembered for her public sculptures, the most famous of which was called Spark and stood over two storeys tall at the old Haji Ali Circle in Mumbai.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala had created stage design for five plays, which included Girish Karnad's Tughlaq and The Book of Job.

Bendre, Kiran Gujral, M F Husain, Paritosh Sen and Krishen Khanna, Pochkhanawala was among the six Indian artists who designed new laminates for Formica India.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala wrote a piece about The Rodin Exhibition for the NCPA Quarterly Journal which took place from 19 March to 11 April 1983 at the Tata Theatre.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala had solo exhibitions from 1955 to 1978 in Bombay, and in Delhi in 1965,1968 and 1982.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala's piece titled Frenzy was exhibited in the Tenth National Exhibition of Art at the Lalit Kala Akademi.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala's sculptures were showcased at the Sao Paulo Art Biennial in 1969 and 1971.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala further wrote that, possibly, it was the crude nature of the artwork that allowed the imagination to be free and experience it fully.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala received several awards in her lifetime which included a silver medal from the All India Sculptors' Association and another silver medal from Bombay Art Society, both in 1954.

Pilloo had married Rattan Pochkhanawala and had one child, Meher.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala's husband belonged to the family of Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala, one of the founders of the Central Bank of India.

Pilloo Pochkhanawala was one of the earliest proponents of a modernist wave in Indian sculpture, developing a style that moved away from merely making copies of popular figures.