CHENNAI: Lucas' introduction to Thiruvalluvar and the values of the Thirukkural came through Tamil poet and lyricist Kannadasan's literary work, Arthamulla Indhu Madham. Since then, he has admired Kannadasan not only as one of Tamil's greatest poets and lyricists, but also as one of the finest ambassadors of the Thirukkural.
To mark Kannadasan's 100th birth anniversary, Lucas has created a detailed mosaic portrait of the Tamil poet using more than one lakh broken eggshell pieces collected from over 1,000 discarded eggshells. "In the past, I have done many mosaic artworks using different materials. This time, I chose eggshells. Before I started, I researched and found very few documented examples of a human portrait created entirely using broken eggshell fragments in mosaic art. I could not find a comparable documented work from India," says the artist.
Lucas first drew a rough portrait of Kannadasan before beginning the task of collecting eggshells from bakeries, hotels, fast-food outlets and kitchens. "We need to clean each shell carefully and remove the inner membrane without damaging it. That is the most difficult part. After that, I coloured the shells using acrylic wherever required and then started placing each broken piece one by one. There are more than one lakh eggshells in this artwork, which I completed before Kannadasan's 100th birth anniversary," he says.
Creating the portrait demanded patience. While some of his earlier works could be completed in four to eight hours, this project took nearly a month. "Being a corporate professional, I worked on it during my off days. Collecting nearly 1,000 eggshells itself took time. Another aspect of this project is that, beyond its artistic value, it shows how discarded waste can be transformed into meaningful cultural expression," Lucas tells us.
Lucas says Kannadasan's ability to bring classical Tamil literature to ordinary people through cinema has always inspired him. "What makes Kannadasan remarkable is the way he brought the wisdom of the Thirukkural to the common people through Tamil cinema. One of the finest examples is the song Aaru Maname Aaru from the 1964 film Aandavan Kattalai, in which he transformed eight Thirukkural couplets into a single song. His ability to blend classical Tamil literature with popular culture continues to inspire me," he says.
His tribute extends beyond art. Lucas has also submitted two proposals to the Government of Tamil Nadu. "The first is the establishment of Kannadasan Research Chairs in universities to encourage academic research on his contributions to Tamil literature and cinema. The second is to translate his literary works into major world languages, including Chinese and Spanish, enabling his timeless writings to reach a global audience. If his works are translated into more languages, Tamil literature will reach many more people across the world," he opines.