Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. This is what makes ‘clayman’ Aman Khanna’s work stands out with a pinch of minimalism. Trained as a graphic designer from London College of Communication, Aman’s love with clay as a medium made him inquisitive to explore more and that resulted in his studio, ‘Claymen’, which features everything 
minimalistic yet deeply rooted in experiences and observations. TMM asks Aman about his love for clay, his design philosophy and how he defines simplicity as an artist.
From a trained graphic designer to clay artist, how did the transition happen?
My work as a graphic designer opened my mind and slowly I started converting words into pictures and drawings. Gradually, I realized that most information design projects I was working on were information-heavy and I always designed a lot of icons and characters to lighten up the subjects. Over a period of time, I started to develop a character library on the side as a self-initiated project, and slowly the shift happened and I think that is when I found my true love for clay.
Your brainchild Claymen has come a long way. What is the core philosophy of Claymen?
Claymen is a reflection of my interactions, experiences and observations. The core philosophy behind Claymen is based on human feelings, emotions and how we interact with each other and our surroundings as people.
When it comes to creating clay art, what inspires you and how?
Claymen objects add aesthetic by taking it away. They simply are what they are: a celebration of a style that lives at peace with its own little imperfections. Some are functional; they are handmade and are built to be used. Some incarnate the dysfunctionality intrinsic to society by hinting at the fragility of the human condition in a more general sense. These Claymen figure sculptures 
emerge from careful observation of the common man and his dilemmas. They are peaceful, contemplative and quiet. While going through their own existential crises they are mere witnesses to the fact that “Man is losing his humanity and becoming a thing amongst the things he produces.”
Your clay art is very minimalistic. As an artist how do you define simplicity?
As an information and communication designer, my approach has always been to simplify and create understanding with my work. The same is reflected upon my clay art; using basic and simple forms I try to communicate the core message. I feel simplicity can be open to interpretation but ideally, it shouldn’t need an explanation.
Do you remember what was your first creation with clay and how was that first experience of falling in love with clay as a medium?
In 2013, I got to be a part of the Pictoplasma Academy group show. Pictoplasma is a character art conference that takes place in Berlin every year. I learnt to work with clay at Sanskriti in New Delhi. 
During this time, I worked on my first hand moulded sculpture over a period of two months for the Pictoplasma Academy show. From there on, I began to create small clay sculptures that were inspired by human feelings, emotions and interactions. There was no turning back, I fell in love with the material and quickly learned how it could be moulded into any shape and form.
In India, clay art is still not as exposed as other art forms. What do you think needs to be done to attract more young minds towards it?
I think it is catching on, we get a lot of enquiries for workshops, including for kids. With the change in time and more exposure in the world of clay art, I feel more and more young minds would get attracted to it especially as everyone is connected via social media.
Do you plan to expand your love for clay along with any other material/process to create something even more spectacular?
Yes, I would love to do large scale sculptures for public spaces keeping the same clean and clear forms. However, it’s difficult to achieve large scale works in clay; therefore I may need to explore other material options for the same.
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