Dead goat as CANVAS

Artist-designer Puneet Kaushik milks art from the most innocent subjects, long after they're gone. And, this pure vegetarian is far from fearing PETA

Artist-designer Puneet Kaushik milks art from the most innocent subjects, long after they're gone. And, this pure vegetarian is faru00a0 from fearing PETA

If you thought MTV's Bakra was the most creative one could get with adapting theu00a0 bleat fleet on screen, take at a look at the stuff splashed here.

Goat hide plays canvas; human nails, hair and resin, the adornments. That's art to installation specialist Puneet Kaushik, who can paint the whole world on lamb chops, albeit of a different kind.

Peeling off from the herd: It must take a lot of courage for a pure vegetarian to cultivate such a controversial calling, we ask, but the man shakes his head with a smile. "Not at all.

Goats aren't an endangered species, so neither the PETA, nor the religious police scare me." And what gave birth to such a strange inclination? "I've seen many acts of slaughter, especially in Andhra Pradesh, both by Hindus and Muslims.

The craftsmen there use the hide to create leather puppets, the kind you see in Dilli Haat." Sacrifice, in all forms, can be a thing of aesthetics and beauty, he believes, "just the way we sacrifice something or the other everyday, be it our opinion in front of friends and colleagues, or our wishes in front of our parents and spouse."

Lots to 'hide': His works include life-size installations, a video project titled Sacrificial Vows, which shows drowning goats amid water bubbles "a symbol of resurrection," the Sacrifical Wombs series depicting the world of creation, and other pieces that use elements like cotton wool, wire mesh, sequin dust and paper shreddings, with themes are as quirky as his media the psychic self, Nazis, gay pink, and most recently, red. We bet you wouldn't mind turning scapegoat for a see.

You can view Puneet's works at...

Symbiosis Installations & Drawings
Where: Art Konsult, 23,
Hauz Khas Village
On till: May 16
Ring: 26531819