CUBIC EQUATION

Suresh Dutt’s work has been characterized as conceptually complex - viewing his work, we can almost glimpse the process of his intricate ruminations, manifesting into precise yet quietly assuring objects.  His work is refined into a striking, yet quiet minimal visual language of geometry, material and light.

Dutt concurs with Donald Judd’s statement that “a piece of art need not represent anything but that it should unequivocally stand on its own merit and simply exist”. His work was often referred to as “the simple expression of a complex thought”.

In 2005 Dutt was awarded travel scholarships to both New York and Tokyo, enabling him to research and develop new concepts and methodologies for his work. During these scholarships he was able to exhibit at the Axis Gallery in Tokyo. An outcome of this exhibition was that he was commissioned to create two new sculptures for CNBC and UKTI. After working on the sculptures for an extended period of time, Suresh was invited to travel to Delhi where Prime Minister Tony Blair presented them to the CEO of Tata Industries. On his return to the UK, he was awarded the Artist International Fellowship by Arts Council England and Visiting Arts. This enabled him to travel to Prague for the duration of a year to create new works.

This Fellowship period as the Artist-in-Residence at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design (VSUP) further enabled Dutt to research and develop his concepts. It also allowed him to explore the interaction between object and environment whilst working in the Spatial Art Studio (part of the School of Fine Art).

The series of work he created in Prague was an amalgamation of all of his extensive periods of research, combining his experiences in New York, Tokyo and Europe. Cubic Cast, a cast glass sphere surrounded by six black glass panels, was one of the sculptural works he created during this residency.

Dutt states: “I wanted to explode a cube, to lay bare its structural elements, to make visible the interior and exterior simultaneously”.

In Cubic Cast, exploring the inner dimensions of the cube, Dutt creates a work where each glass panel is offset from the centre point to create the illusion of movement within a static object. In this imagined metamorphosis, the hovering external planes can be interpreted as expanding or contracting to protect or encase an inner form. Cubic Cast inhabits a space between motion and a forced stillness, challenging the dynamic and the static. This implied movement transports us into another dimension allowing us a glimpse into another reality.

Dutt states: “The cube and the sphere are both efficient geometric structures that have instant recognition, which allows me to experiment with the notions of space.”

Materiality

Glass is primarily employed for its inherent mathematical beauty and optical quality that reveals the structure of an object as well as helping to create the illusion of space. In Dutt’s use of glass, everything is considered and arranged so that you become acutely aware of the edge and surface of each panel. These configurations have been designed to enhance your perception of the line in space, creating illusory objects that interact with the surrounding spatial area.

In objects such as his Cubic Oblique, the contained form is bright and reflective. The alternating coloured stripes produce further concentric movement in opposition to the horizontal and vertical panels. The internal form emerges almost organically, contrasting with the external geometric structure.

Cubic Para traps the negative space of Cubic Cast into a two dimensional configuration. The image is split between both surfaces of a single glass sheet. This allows a separate interpretation of suspension – the movement is not illusory or implied, but is reality. This is reassured through the continuously adapted perspective of the viewer as they change viewpoint around the sculpture. 

By using points not just in space but also in time, each work creates an immediate environment for contemplation and reflection.

To describe Dutt simply as a craftsman or minimalist does not fully explore his passion. There is an extreme honesty and innocence; Dutt verges on the obsessive with a constant and vigilant dedication to the precise production of his work. Dutt ensures that each one of his works is a marvel of invention and can be readily called complex, beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Edith Garcia