Hyderabad: Meet Saaduddin, only Indian metal sculptor making Damascus knives

Hyderabad: A little boy falling in love with a machine is pretty frequent. But turning that passion into stunning artwork is not as prevalent.

Meet Syed Mohammed Saaduddin who creates beautiful sculptures and useful works of art like lamps and furniture using scrap iron, steel, and even copper instead of canvas. Intriguing narratives frame some of his artworks.

In his hands, metal is like putty, and he can make it dance to his music by hammering it repeatedly. Syed Mohammed Saaduddin has been taming metal and making sculptures for more than a decade now.

This is not a new interest. 35-year-old Saad has been working on his skills for more than ten years. Although he acknowledges that YouTube is a fantastic resource for information, he also points out that the majority of instructional videos are created by Americans using entirely different and superior methods.

Saad and his brother Hamzauddin, grew up among machinery, thanks to their father's work as a restorer of classic cars. His ambition to learn welding was what first sparked his passion for metal.

"I am self-taught. I realized that if I did welding every day, I would become bored. I used to do small undertakings to produce something concrete as a result. I recently started blacksmithing and forging as well," says Ironic.

Saad has set up a small studio at his residence on Hill Fort Road. While he has worked on a wide variety of fascinating and stunning sculptures, he has no personal favorites.

The metal artist, who formerly worked in a military company's R&D division quit his job in 2018 to pursue his passions permanently. “I had achieved everything I needed to at my job and was ready to pursue my passion/ I've always wanted to create stuff”, he said.

“Iron is a hard material to work with and requires a lot of patience. The physical exertion required to work with metal is something I appreciate, which is why I picked it as a medium.”

A sizeable portion of the raw materials used to make sculptures comes from the recycling dump, "Chor Bazaar" and vehicle parts. In addition to iron, he also works with other metals including stainless steel, aluminum, copper, and brass.

"There is no Eureka moment. I want to push myself the most. I create a work based on what I want to achieve and keep building upon it. I can see that my sculptures are alive and appear to be photographs of specific moments,” he said.

“I love working alone, I have a sort of trial and error way of doing my projects. I keep working on it till it looks and feels how I want it to”.

Saad is known as the only person in India who makes Damascus knives. “Not many people know it but Damascus steel used to be produced in India. Many years ago it was made in Tamil Nadu and Exported from Telangana to the Middle East. In a town in Turkey called Damascus, the steel was then forged into tools like knives and was famously known around the world as ‘Damascus steel’ when in reality it was the Wood Steed from India,” he said.

“I wanted to revive it so I researched and tried to work on it. It was a very tedious process. I take two types of alloy and forge them together which makes a beautiful wooden pattern. But it is very difficult to source the right kind of alloy. I usually source from Bombay. I have taken a break from making these knives because of the scarcity of material but will get back to it in a couple of months” he added.

Besides sculptures Ironic also reworks Motorcycles. “This was something my brother and I came up with together. We’d save our money and buy an old motorcycle each year. We would then rework it, customize it and sell it to get money to buy our next motorcycle. It was a good, sustainable way to put our skills into practice” he said.

Ironic has presented exhibits in the past at Ravindra Bharathi as well as other locations in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Additionally, he contributed to a work that had its premiere in the Louvre Abu Dhabi. He also took part in the Moto Art exhibition.

“Helmets for India was a charity event that this program sponsored. Each performer received a helmet so they could add their flair. I was the only metal artist present; everyone else was a painter or a graphic designer. My handmade helmet toured North and South America and Europe. All of the helmets were auctioned off after the tour, with the net revenues going to charity” he revealed.

When asked if he has any interesting projects coming up in the future he said, “I do, there is a lot I want to accomplish with my craft and I will but it takes time. Since I am a one-man team I take my time to build my pieces and work on them. There is a process I like to follow”.