Prashant Godbole’s Samsara showcases art created from reclaimed materials

EE News Desk May 21, 2019

Each year 7 Billion trees across the world’s forests fall, in silence.Taking with them into oblivion the homes of over a hundred rare bird species, 260 pounds of oxygen and an effective climate moderation system. “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” The age-old philosophical conundrum implies that without conscious perception any object may simply not exist.

So, we must ask ourselves, does our observation affect the outcome? If we hear the tree fall can we prevent others from following suit? Artist Prashant Godbole’s Samsara was born from this hope. The hope that by creating beauty from that which was once beautiful he could inspire people to preserve what is.

The series ranges from thought-provoking conceptual art to pieces created from reclaimed materials. Fallen branches. Driftwood. Rope. Roots. Recycled trunks of trees. And common tools like chisels, door knobs and nails. It is these natural elements and everyday objects that are the paint and canvas for Prashant Godbole.

Each of these objects has inspired a thought, an idea, a story. Together creating a visual anthology that echoes one message - that all life is connected, and the inevitable result of natural destruction will be the end of human civilisation. And though time is running out, it might not be too late to transform the lifeless brown into a renaissance of green.

Each piece in the Samsara series is a call to action, designed to invoke in the viewer a sense of protection over Mother Earth. From ‘Karma’ the boomerang that will surely return full-circle to wreak its havoc ten-fold, to ‘The Last Scream’, inspired by the Edvard Much’s The Scream, and brought to life by the natural growth whorls of the bark. ‘The Tree That Was’ which depicts a lone chair branching out and ‘Self Obituary’, the tree sharpened down into a pencil, map the lifecycle of a fallen tree, and if nurtured how it may return to its former glory. Carrying the theme throughout the series are birds, some ominous ravens, as well as a ray of hope that change if brought about
will occur. With this series it’s clear that Godbole hopes to affect change.

All proceeds from the sale of this series will be donated to the NGO Grow-Trees.