Situated in a breezy corner of Delhi’s India Habitat Centre, Hegemony (2004) could well be a monolith inscribed with ancient symbols, or even a shattered prehistoric fossil marked by the ravages of time. Yet this ceramic sculpture is in fact as contemporary as it gets – a monument to humanity’s troubled relationship with the environment and an appeal for balance to be restored. Covered with nuts, bolts and tyre impressions, its fractured surface is a lament for disintegration. It is simultaneously primordial and modern – it is this unique pairing that defines the work of Ray Meeker, the 71-year-old American artist who has influenced scores of Indian ceramists. “It is a record of human impact on the natural landscape,” says Meeker, “and man’s dominance over the environment.” While its form was inspired by the neolithic stone circles at Avebury in the United Kingdom, Hegemony’s texture drew from his visits to auto junkyards filled with smashed gears, pipes and vehicles, as a student in California. In many ways, the sculpture exemplifies Meeker’s preoccupation with pushing the boundaries of ceramic art practices over the last five decades.