Osian's Auction Catalogue The Masterpieces and Museum Quality Series | October 2004

95 THE MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY SERIES ‘ Vana-Raja and Yakshi , the title of two of her works explicitly al- lude to forest deities. Imposing in their physicality, their compact- ness is that of an arrested ram- pancy, so that to approach the spaces in which one confronts them is almost like a trespass. “My anthromorphic deities owe much to the equation with awe and reverence that a traditional invocatory deity inspires in her spectator. But my mythology is de-conventionalised and per- sonal, as indeed are my methods and materials.” The mythological references are harnessed with the desire to create a hierophany, as if the knotted mesh were a receptacle for the numen, even while continuing to be a…sculp- ture according to the “dialectic of the sacred” described by Mircea Eliade.’– Deepak Ananth, rpt. in Mrinalini Mukherjee Sculptures: British Council Art Gallery 1995 ExC. 63 Dhruva MISTRY [ b .1957, Kanjari, Gujarat] Tree Spirit II Bronze, 1989-90 63.0 x 28.0 x 20.0 (24.8 x 11.0 x 7.9 in) Rs. 700,000 – 800,000 $ 15,100 – 17,300 £ 8,275 – 9,475 ‘The human, the animal and the struggle for harmony seem to spur my imagination. My concept of Sculpture relies on my ability to transform my ideas into visible and tactile forms. This verification with forms provides me with a sense of purpose, consequently transforming the verisimilitude of my own image. Therefore, these objects witness my passage through time and space – enlivening desire to reach towards my object of creation.’ – Dhruv Mistry, 2004.