Glassblowing: An art that blows your mind

CHENNAI: He hails from Thanjavur, a land historically famous for art, but had no dream of stepping into the field of art. Decades later, Srinivasa Raghavan, now a warm and contented artiste, is one among the very few who are into artistic glassblowing in Chennai. He speaks to us about how artistic glassblowing fascinated him to shift from scientific glassblowing, and also explains the amount of work that goes into creating each art piece.

Just like any other youngster in the 80s, Raghavan also sought a government job, which, with many twists and turns, led him to the path of artistic glassblowing. “I pursued a diploma in glassblowing to land a government job, as it was required to complete any skill development course. But it was in vain. So I started working in a pharmaceutical company, which was monotonous. Then, I discovered my interest in artistic glassblowing,” starts Raghavan.

A major turning point in Raghavan’s life was when he visited Hyderabad for work. There, he met a family that was into producing attar (perfume) bottles. “Whatever I learnt during my course and while working in companies in Chennai was technical. My visit to Hyderabad changed my perspective about glassblowing and inspired me to pursue it further,” explains Raghavan. But, he says that the transformation from scientific to artistic glassblowing was quite difficult.

An artiste with almost 35 years of experience in the field, Raghavan says that the reason behind the shift to artistic glassblowing was because it required lesser investment. “The appreciation and recognition I got from my friends and family for making small art pieces motivated me to push my boundaries and become an artiste. The moment I realised my passion for glassblowing art, I went back to Thanjavur and started working from my home on a small-scale basis,” he says.

Talking about the growth of this art, he says, “The craft had almost zero exposure when I started my diploma. Now, there is a slight development when it comes to exposure, but artistic glassblowers are still less in number when compared to scientific glassblowers.” To do his bit in expanding the art, Raghavan is conducting workshops and demonstrations in institutes.

The main equipment used in the process is a cable welding torch. “But the main element in sculpting a desired art piece using glassblowing technique is the coordination between mind and hand. There are many types of glasses, each of which require a different temperature to reach the melting point,” he explains. He adds that the duration of making a miniature art piece ranges from two minutes to twenty-four hours, depending upon the intricacy in the design. His signature art pieces include intricately designed attar bottles, whose market ranges upto New Delhi.

Later, he was invited by the DakshinaChitra to conduct a workshop and has been a part of it for over two decades.

—Those wishing to witness the live demonstrations of Raghavan making a miniature, can visit DakshinaChitra during weekends between 10 am and 6 pm.