KARACHI: In a small, single-room studio of a rented house located in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Ali Chand transforms common stainless steel cutlery pieces into highly-detailed sparkling, and mesmerising artworks.
The artist uses grinding and welding techniques in his metal works to create sculptures.
Born in Karachi, Ali Chand, a set designer by profession who has become a spoon artist, says art has been his lifelong passion.
Looking at his work, one can see how metal can be transformed into mesmerising objects of art and how their value increases after intricate bends, twists, and welds.
What arises out of this labour are magnificent sculptures of the natural world.
The artist says his subjects are mostly birds because they symbolise the expression of his ideas and freedom.
He has designed objects in such a way that one cannot take their sight away from his work.
Using spoons, Chand has created many things, like flowers, animals, cartoons, and even mobile phone holders.
He says spoon art has become his most favourite work. It shows the beauty and talent Karachi has produced. He says people admire his work and appreciate him; they come especially to his studio to see all the metal crafts he has created.
He says he took up metal sculpting during the Covid-19 lockdown when his stage-design work had stopped, because he knew he needed to make ends meet. So he began searching for what he could do.
Metal sculpting is a difficult skill to learn, but with the passage of time, he managed to do it as he wanted to create something that hadn’t been created before.
He says he is the only one who is into this field of art in Pakistan. “No one has created such artworks before in the country,” Chand said.
He says some crafts take two to three spoons, while sometimes he uses 20 to 25 spoons to give a final look to his design. The man does all the work himself, such as welding, polishing, and moulding in which perfection is clearly visible.
Initially, he began by buying spoons in bulk from Sunday Bazaars and other thrift stores and began transforming them into unique shapes and objects.
He believes that Pakistan lags behind in this art and that the younger generation should do more to learn various types of crafts. He also runs a lighting business because being a spoon artist isn’t considered worthy in Pakistan, he says.
His artwork has been sold, and he mentions selling these items online to buyers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Along with the spoon art, he has also created majestic paintings on different sizes of canvas, which he sells through his Facebook page, named Chand Art Gallery.
The struggling artist expresses regret that talent never receives recognition in Pakistan and says that artists should be recognised and provided with more opportunities and platforms.
Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2023
