At this artwork exhibition in Hyderabad, reminiscence takes form in charcoal and wooden

At Srishti Art Gallery in Hyderabad, a collection of layered, summary sculptural works in charcoal and wooden take centre stage in opposition to hanging crimson wall. In the play of sunshine and shadow, artist Mahalakshmi Kannappan explores themes of migration, impermanence, and uncertainty — concepts that talk to id and the emotional transitions that form us.

The present, Bloody Dark Body, contains a color palette designed by architect Sona Reddy, with a curatorial be aware by Bose Krishnamachari, co-founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Bose’s textual content decodes the metaphorical richness of Mahalakshmi’s layered varieties. “‘The rugged, tough edges on the works are the negatives — the fractures that occur in anybody’s life. And then comes calm, therapeutic, and restoration. That’s what makes us who we’re,’” provides Lakshmi Nambiar, founding father of Srishti Art Gallery.

The exhibition’s title, coined by Bose, carries a layered symbolism. ‘Body’ refers each to the bodily human kind and to the sculptural physique of labor. ‘Dark’ alludes to using graphite and charcoal, in addition to to the emotional darkness we encounter in moments of battle. ‘Bloody’ represents the visceral — the heart beat of life that runs by way of us all.

Coimbatore-born and Singapore-based, Mahalakshmi first exhibited at Srishti in 2024 as a part of the group present Triloka. “My observe is about fragility, reminiscence, and endurance — and the way to specific these concepts by way of materials transformation,” she says. Living away from India for the previous 15 years, her work bridges recollections from dwelling with these fashioned overseas. “There are some recollections we’d wish to overlook, and a few we select to hold ceaselessly,” she displays.

In her seek for materials expression, Mahalakshmi experimented with turmeric and cotton thread for over a yr earlier than discovering her voice in powdered charcoal. “Charcoal has a particular character,” she says. “It could be held collectively, but additionally smudged and dispersed into the air.” The duality of the medium — fragile but sturdy — echoes her central theme of endurance by way of instability.

Working with waterproof birch plywood sourced from India, the artist begins by pouring a mixture of floor charcoal and glue onto wooden, letting it dry earlier than breaking and reshaping the sheets. “I’m all the time interested by how a lot to interrupt, how a lot to maintain — till it evolves right into a kind,” she explains.

A former graphic designer drawn to monotone, Mahalakshmi spent two months at Sudhakar Chippa’s Banyan Art Studio, the place the works for Bloody Dark Body took form. “The themes shift as I work,” she says. “What I begin with is never what stays. The course of decides the ultimate kind.”

Bloody Dark Body, an exhibition of summary works by Mahalakshmi Kannappan is on view at Srishti Art Gallery until November 2