Here, stone pauses in a moment of play. The mother lifts her child close, not in a formal embrace but in movement- mid-gesture, mid-laughter, as if the scene were interrupted rather than composed. The child’s small body leans toward her face, and the intimacy of that closeness becomes the sculpture’s quiet centre.
Carved in the Odisha’s stone tradition, the figure carries the visual richness the region is known for: layered jewellery, finely pleated drapery, and rhythmic ornament that travels across the body like a second skin. Yet none of this grandeur overwhelms the scene. The detailing serves a gentler purpose here- it grounds the divine vocabulary of classical sculpture in an everyday human act.
What makes this work compelling is its refusal to monumentalise motherhood. The mother is not static or ceremonial; she shifts her weight, one foot slightly forward, her body curved to accommodate the child’s energy. The baby is not idealised either- there is liveliness in the posture, an impatience to move, to reach, to respond.
This sculpture captures motherhood not as duty or sacrifice, but as presence. A fleeting exchange- touch, gaze, play- made enduring in stone.
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