Calcutta Telegraph, India
Oct 13 2004

Ray of inspiration in blocks of stone
A STAFF REPORTER

Tokmajyam at work in his studio. Picture by Pabitra Das

He finds the sun and inspiration in the galis of Calcutta. In his
eyes, sari-clad Bengali women look like Greek goddesses. He speaks no
English but breaks easily into the tune of Mera joota hai Japani.

With magnificent works displayed all over the world — Greece to
Toronto — Armenian sculptor Levon Tokmajyam, on his first visit to
India, is in Calcutta to add his own touch to the city’s diverse art
palette.

The sculptor has been holed up in a makeshift studio on Mirza Ghalib
Street, where at the request of the Armenian government, he has been
busy sculpting a marble bust of Arutyun Shmavonyan, the founder of
the first Armenian language press in India.

Dressed casually in shorts and faded T-shirt, the 67-year-old’s face
breaks into a wrinkled smile that reaches out beyond language
barriers, as he speaks through interpreter Henrik about the charm
that Calcutta holds for him.

Inside the white-washed studio, fashioned out of a garage at the
Armenian College on Mirza Ghalib Street, Tokmajyam is in his
elements. While the huge piece of sculpture lies on the ground, the
diminutive artist picks up chunks of marble and smiles gleefully at
visitors, trying to tell them how he would like to shape the block of
stone. “When I looked at the scraps left from the huge marble block
used for the bust, I saw the Calcutta sun in them and felt inspired,”
says Tokmajyam.

“I love the natural ways of life. The Calcutta just outside my studio
has shown me enough of the happiness and pain that lie within the
intrinsic fabric of simple life,” adds the sculptor. And his exhibits
are proof of this inspiration — sculptures of a rickshaw-puller (down
to the beads of sweat trickling down his face), to a worn-out face of
Mother Teresa and Indian women in saris.

“I have met many artists all over the globe. But nowhere else in the
world have I come across such helpful sculptors like the ones in
Calcutta. Tapas Sarkar, for one, has become like a brother to me over
the past few days,” says Tokmajyam. He is scheduled to be back to the
city in December for the inauguration of his work.

Sarkar, a sculptor himself, realised how the city would be missing
the Armenian’s work on seeing Tokmajyam work on the bust. “When I
thought of this exhibition, he readily made over 15 exclusive pieces
based on his experiences in the city,” said Sarkar.

Now that the work is almost over, Tokmajyam is “feeling relaxed” and
looking for people to take him out to “feel the real throbbing heart
of the city and usher in new inspiration”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress