Dhruva Mistry's first solo exhibition in Mumbai was at the Jehangir Art Gallery in 1981. He was 24 years old then. And the journey has been a long one. Both in time and distance. Mistry, 62, graduated from MS University, Baroda, before he moved to London in the early '80s where he received a honorary CBE for the contribution to the arts. He not just represented Britain at the Third Rodin Grand Prize Exhibition, Japan in 1990, two years later, he was commissioned by the Birmingham City Council to design sculptures for Victoria Square, Birmingham.

What set Mistry apart from his contemporaries was his work with metal, bright colours and his reinterpretation of mythologies for contemporary times. But, when he returned to India in 1997, he switched to working with steel and metal, and turned to digitally controlled laser-cutting techniques. "I thought that steel would make for a better material than plaster, wood or fibre glass. It's a good material, doesn't rust and symbolises development and progress," he says, adding that he thought it would be interesting to use a material as cold as steel to create "3D illusions of sensuous forms". It also helps, Mistry says, that steel is freely available. That gives him the liberty to buy fresh steel sheets or rods and bend them to his will rather than work with scrap material. "I don't like the idea of making something new from something old. It's like making a meal from leftovers."