JOIN USIs he an artist, a designer or just another carpenter? Persuaded by a fascination for nature, Nagpur-based artist Asad Firdosy has been moulding wood into furniture that is functional as well as something to be wondered at. So, he would like to be called a furniture-sculptor.
Ever since he came out with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology in 1992, Firdosy was sure that he would take on his family’s furniture business. But his out-of-the-box thinking urged him to break out of the conventional geometrical forms of sculpting.
His encounter with wood had started during his adolescence in the workshop of Hussainbhai, his grandfather, himself a product of Mumbai’s famed J J School of Art. Asad would try to understand the behaviour of wood, especially Indian Teak. Several toys came out of those years in incubation. A degree in architecture endowed him with elements of traditional and ancestral values while bringing an awareness of the movements in home décor like Art Nouveau.
By 1994, he had carved out his own trajectory. He set up a studio called ‘Asad Firdosy Design’ in Nagpur. His first creation, The Glass Chair, came up in 1995 and was a smashing success. “Here I tried to develop progressive modernism by pairing uncompromising traditional construction techniques with the abstraction of everyday industrial and natural forms,” says Firdosy.
Chairs dominated his imagination and work for some years to come. “Chair design is extremely interesting. It is one piece of furniture that is always in contact with a human being and so the criteria includes ergonomics, aesthetics and durability. I am particular about lumbar support, thigh support, arm rest, height, shoulder and neck support,” says Firdosy.
The Leaf Chair (left) was inspired by green leaves of Ashoka trees. Dyed green, two leaves — one standing erect and forming the backrest and another forming the seat — intersected to give shape to something that emulated nature.
Next came The Fish Tail Chair (far right), an outcome of an impetus to copy the tailfin of a fish for the armrest and footrest. By the time Asad could handcraft The Asymmetric Chair, reviews in top décor magazines had enabled him to exhibit his craft in several cities across India and Germany. A rude challenge to the conventional symmetry of chairs, the ‘asymmetrical chair’ combined the colonial art with assembly line-produced modern furniture. Its abstract nature personified the offbeat thought process. “Its unconventional design makes it close to my heart,” remarks Asad who exhibited his craft in the recently held Architecture exhibition in Bengaluru.
Asad’s recent creations represent a fine blend of imagination and practicality. The Autumn (Fall) Leaf was inspired by fallen leaves of autumn-stricken trees wafting across the jungles and crackling under the feet. It saw him joining 6,000-odd pieces of teakwood into a chair, which he considers a step forward on The Leaf Chair.
The Banana Leaf Chair and Banana Leaf Table were attempts to carve the Victorian wing chair in Art Nouveau style. Wings of Forest had an intricate jaali (lattice) symbolic of wild foliage of forest carved out of solid teak, for backrest. The Viper Chaise chair (right) was inspired by two beautiful snakes intertwined in the dance of love. Pieces drawn from ebony and teak lent it the visual rhythm of alternating patterns of coloured wood.
Each of the objects was a statement in itself. Mi-Cycle came as a celebration of the humble bicycle, the eco-friendly mode of transportation under the threat of obsolescence in an age of motorisation.
Asad belives that design is a concept that arises out of nothing. “Just a flash of thought and lo!” he remarks. One morning, when he was chatting with a friend, he noticed how passionately he peeled off a banana skin into four layers one by one, exposing the creamy fruit which he gobbled in small bites. Asad abruptly left for his studio and hurriedly penned down what he visualised in the flash of that moment. What came out of the experience was the Banana Chair. While nature was the stuff of imagination triggering object d’art, even the threat to nature in the wake of global warming did not bypass him. Sight of the earth cracking due to internal heat spawned the Lava Table (2012). It required some mechanical and electrical introductions for visible effect of spewing red lava.
One of his recent creations is the Bharatnatyam Chair. Balancing the delicate posture of the dance and the ergonomics for human seating was no small feat. The imagery is taken to perfection by draping the chair with an impeccably designed costume.
Asad’s creations were adjudged the winner of the ‘Best Five - 2010’ award by the Institute of Indian Interior Designers. Some of his designs and furniture pieces have also been featured in Miami for their novelty.
Undaunted by the limitations a small city like Nagpur places on him, Asad Firdosy continues on his voyage of ideating to excite people and make them curious, not just nostalgic.