Painter Niharika Hukku‘s captivating work will make you realize that ordinary fish possess an innate beauty. More often than not, the artist uses simple, white pottery (which she constructs herself) as a functional canvas for her aquatic designs. “Starting with an idea, my work is an expression of what I find elegant and beautiful in my world,” the ceramic-loving creator explains on her website. “Inspiration is seeded in my observations in nature; in capturing colour and narrative with purpose onto clay.”
While Hukku's love of nature is apparent in her dazzling work, it's her past experiences that truly inspire her to continue as an artist. “Ceramics has an ancient history in India where I was born and brought up and is used commonly in function and as art,” she says. “My earliest memory is of it being the ‘Kulhars' (unglazed earthenware tumblers) used to drink sweet tea at train stations. I left India 12 years ago and in my travels, I had the privilege of tutelage under ceramic artists in Indonesia and Singapore.”
With this impressive history under her belt, Hukku uses her extraordinary talents to create ceramics that reflect her sophisticated vision. Every single detail of her work is refined and evokes a sense of simple elegance that emulates beauty found in nature. In fact, it almost seems as if Hukku's fish are delicately flowing and refracting light as they swim along her workspace.
