Rahul Kumar

So how do you introduce yourself: potter, ceramic artist, or corporate executive?

It depends on who I am meeting. But when talking about art, I am a ceramic artist.

How different is that from pottery?

It’s a much broader world. A ceramic artist uses art as an expression, not just utility value.

And you have a full-time job?

I head business support for a global consultancy. It’s a pretty structured job. It gives me the freedom to work in my studio over weekends.

So pottery is not a mere hobby?

Not at all. It’s a passion.

What got you into it?

On a trip to Cottage Emporium 17 years ago, I spotted a potter working the wheel. It was magical. After Class 12, I was encouraged by my family to pursue it. I took courses.

What’s your style?

I was making utility-based pots earlier, now I’m more into sculptural, abstract expression.

So your work is going under the hammer at Sotheby’s—that sounds big.

Absolutely. It is rare for a contemporary potter from India to be on a platform like that with a designer like Sabyasachi, in addition to masters from Italy. Pottery is rapidly gaining acceptance as an art form around the world.

What’s Sotheby’s going to auction?

My collection called Tranquil Flame, it’s porcelain clay in miniature format. I’ve used flaming red glaze throughout—to show the dichotomy between tiny and fragile, and furious red.

A tough art to master?

You need to give it a lifetime. It takes time to master the technique unlike, say, painting, where your skill component is lower than your expression. In ceramic art, it’s 50-50.

Will you move to it full-time?

It is liberating to not have to worry about my art selling since I have a day job. But I will take it up full-time in 5-7 years.