Nature in beast mode

An embroidered rhinoceros crushes a suitcase. A Ferrari is mangled by a tree. In Jagannath Panda's work, nature spars with man, and always wins

- PINAKI RANJAN MOHANTY

To understand Jagannath Panda's work, perhaps it's best to use one of his own lines: "The past refuses to end, and the future keeps arriving early." Panda has been creating mixed-media art for three decades focusing on how the changing nature and scope of urban India affects its long-existing agrarian and nature-based ecosystems.

Panda spent his early life in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, studied in London and Tokyo, and now lives in Gurugram. He has, for years, stayed rooted in the traditional cultural practices of his home state, but gave it a contemporary identity. He experiments with materials by pairing them in unusual ways. Textiles and fabrics often mimic the hides of animals, barks of trees, or clothing of mythological figures. Terracotta, bronze, stone and papier-mâché have shown up in his larger-than-life assemblages.