Feeling Kerala exhibition

April 2024 at Madeline Gordon Gallery, Launceston

The works in this exhibition are shaped by a place, culture, and community that left a profound imprint on me—an experience that settled into my being like a warm mazha (rain). My journey to Kerala in 2022–23, originally to visit the Kochi–Muziris Biennale, unfolded into something far richer. I met artists and students, visited art colleges and cultural centres, and encountered a generosity of spirit that continues to resonate through my practice.

This body of work extends my materials and methods into new spatial and sculptural territory. Some canvases open at the sides, creating additional surfaces; others are removed from their frames and folded, allowing layers, edges, and unexpected planes to emerge. These shifts invite painting to move beyond the flat picture plane and into a more tactile, exploratory form.

The canvases become open containers—holding and releasing colour in waxy impasto, echoing the sensory intensity of Kerala’s architecture, climate, and everyday rhythms. Market stalls, blue‑tarp chai shelters, and the saturated atmosphere of the monsoon all find their way into the work as impressions rather than depictions. Alongside these, three pieces on khadi (cotton paper) reflect on spirituality and religion, acknowledging the deep devotional presence woven through daily life.

Together, these works trace an encounter with place: felt, absorbed, and transformed through material experimentation.