Inheritance: Memory and Matter is an exhibition that brings together women artists from south India, exploring the spiritual, emotional, and material connections between the past and present, and how these inherited attributes are carried into the future.
Known for their practices in printmaking, the artists have been brought together as an extension of the curator’s research on women printmakers in south India.
The exhibition, on view till April 18 at the Gallery, InKo Centre, features works by Asma Menon, B Padma Reddy, Champa Sharath, Dimple B Shah, Gouri Vemula, B Karuna, Mayookha P, Premalatha Seshadri, Nijeena Neelambaran, and Urmila VG.
“The artworks in the exhibition reflect on ideas of continuity. They explore the spiritual, emotional, and material connections between past and present, and the passage of these inherited attributes into the future.
The ten artists elaborate on personal and collective experiences of womanhood, contemplating aspects of matrilineal knowledge and a sense of shared purpose in a contemporary milieu that can often be disorienting.
The artworks in the exhibition reflect on ideas of continuity. They explore the spiritual, emotional, and material connections between past and present, and the passage of these inherited attributes into the future– Lina Vincent, curator
Traversing memory, reality, and imagination, the artists open up their internal and external worlds in different ways. Their expressions bring together moments of playfulness and profundity, discomfort and joy, power and vulnerability, presented through varied aesthetic languages and forms of printmaking,” shares curator Lina Vincent.
Relating to everyday environments, people, and places, Champa Sharath, Mayookha P, and Urmila VG translate physical experiences, observations, and tangible ideas into imagery, with each composition encapsulating transitions across time and space.
Drawing from the mysteries of the forest, Asma Menon and Gouri Vemula evoke spiritual and mythological realms, articulating otherworldly presences in their work.
B Karuna and Premalatha Seshadri approach emotional resonance and everyday observation in distinct ways. While Premalatha expresses her experiences through lyrical forms, marks, and linear configurations, Karuna employs a personalised symbology to describe her space, investigating identity and belonging
The female body and mind, and their negotiation with the politics of living, are explored by Dimple B Shah, B Padma Reddy, and Nijeena Neelambaran. Their works raise questions around patriarchy and privilege, while provoking thought on universal feminine agency, struggle, and resilience.