THE absence of a watch on Valsan Koorma Kolleri is not so conspicuous, considering how negotiable time is for him. With his prophet-like beard, inward-looking eyes and meditative calm, this 51-year-old sculptor says, ‘‘Time need not be the enemy. People have to work in their own rhythm. For me, the environment is paramount and my art is a part of it. One should never try to go against nature’s pace.’’

Yet, the artist has a stringent work ethic. If he isn’t worrying about his butterfly garden project in Thrissur, Kerala, he’s working on a rainwater harvesting sculpture in Delhi. And in between, he’s making impromptu trips to Vadodara to fuss over his latest creation.

The 12-foot sculpture, Rest to Rust, is shaped like a cosmic eye and lives up to its name. Rust-covered and knotted, the iron frame of wires surrounds a large, yellowish stone.

Known for working with ‘found objects’, his community-based work has been called ‘junk’ by classicists and collectors of drawing-room art. Make no mistake though, the almost spiritual Rest to Rust is the embodiment of all Kolleri stands for: ‘‘Non-materialist, environment-friendly art’’. It’s showing at Usha Mirchandani’s ongoing group exhibition in Mumbai and we predict it will create a stir.

Kolleri first studied art at the Madras School and then taught at Vadodara’s Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University, until a residency in Paris in 1996 put him on the international art scene.

While he’s based in Vadodara, his art has him shuttling across the country. Working quietly but ‘‘furiously’’, the itinerant sculptor recently moved to Mumbai.

But he continues to travel, creating non-profit, ecologically-conscious sculpture. ‘‘I’ve managed funding for the last 30 years. I’m sure I’ll manage again,’’ he says.

There definitely is a market of select buyers for his work. And like some of them, Kolleri prefers to keep a low profile. The sculptor works mostly at night, venturing out only for select openings. The day is reserved for drawing, observing and reading. In his free time, though, he likes to distribute pencils to street children. Recently, at his Jaipur art workshop, he gave out 500, each carved with the child’s name. “They’re used to begging for tidbits from foreign tourists. So I decided to give them a non-material gift—something with which to draw, write and empower themselves,’’ says the one-time art teacher, who conducts student discussions on art all over the country.

Kolleri, a traditionalist, says, “before people made art that survived time. They understood the qualities of bronze, iron, wood and stone. And planned not just for their lifetime, but also for generations to come’’.

While learning from this, paradoxically, his own installations are quite ephemeral. But the plastic and plasma-screen world isn’t for him: ‘‘I’m all for environment-friendly mediums—so our next generation isn’t left with a damaged planet and no space for creativity.’’