A collective of eleven contemporary artists from Chennai deconstruct and reimagine reality and the world around us with fresh, immersive perspectives and experimental aesthetics and form. The exhibition transports us into the raw, unfiltered nature of things, experiences and memories with all their jagged and uncomfortable edges as well as their beauty and transcendence. Striking and complex compositions and optically dazzling mixed media collages explore the inherent tension as well as harmony present between the human world, nature and the environment, the personal and transpersonal, and self and other. Drawing freely from nature, observations, abstract visions and metaphors, the artists craft a hypnotic realm composed of textures, patterns, colours, sensations, free floating visions and thought-provoking themes.

Gurunathan Govindan’s conceptual art works stretch across a range of media, from paintings and ceramic works to installations. He is equally adventurous with the materials he uses – nothing is off limits. Over the years, he has mastered the techniques of converting random-seeming materials into art, and the resulting accidental effects do not faze him. Central to his artistic philosophy is the constant reframing of the line between what is defined art and what isn’t. The sense of ease, spontaneity and intuitiveness with which Govindan creates his works, is reflected in his expansive and unbounded art. .

JanarthananRudhramoorthy is inspired by the human body and sees it as the nest for the soul. His iron and steel sculptures and mixed media works explore the idea of the self at the physical as well as the metaphorical level. Agile, kinetic, free and in motion, the artist explores the human form as a container for the living sentient being who lives within it. Both the nest and the body are built up in layers; layers that are sometimes perceptible to the eyes and at other times not. Gracefully moving in harmony and balance, the earth-toned figures of Janarthanan’s art works depict a liberated human being in tune with their deeper self.

Incorporating wood, cement, paint and paper, Kumaresan Selvaraj’s mixed media works seem to gently erupt and overflow from within. Tactile and multidimensional, they simultaneously seem to both conceal and reveal. Something from within is always making its way out; signifying a continual fascination to dig deep and excavate the many layers that lie beneath the surface. The unravelling of objects, people, physical environments and his own self, reveal underlying stories, histories, and secrets which are made visible in his art.

Suresh Kumar’s abstract works are deeply inspired by the environment. To him, nature is both muse and the truest expression of himself and the source of for all existence. Through his art, he seeks to explore the emotional and sensorial responses that are evoked when we truly observe the diversity of the natural world. Initially inspired by the impressionists and later by the abstract expressionists, he is driven by the beauty inherent in the shapes, forms and colours of the natural world.

YuvarajVelu’s physically immersive sculptures and conceptual works are predominantly in wood. He delights in using a diverse variety of media and the process of art-making itself – the use of machines and tools, the physical involvement and movement of the body and the rhthymic processes of cutting, pasting, grinding and engraving. His art works don’t follow a linear narrative and are primarily nonfigurative and alive with colours, textures, rough and smooth surfaces, lines and strokes. They take shape instinctually: sometimes the materials and the form decide the medium and at times the medium gives rise to form.

Soothing, therapeutic and inspired by nature, AlamuKumaresan’s mixed media works take us out of the frenetic, breathless pace of everyday life and submerge us into the stillness and quietude of the moment. Filled with the vibrant, intricate motifs and variegated textures that are drawn from the natural world, the Chennai-based visual artist’s works encourage us to take pause and awaken a tranquil state of reflection. Kumaresan creates her interpretations of nature with a mixture of fabric, thread, yarn, embroidery and paint.

Yuvan Bothysathuvar creates a luminous wonderland with his abstract collages. The hypnotic patterns created with warm, saturated tones, energetic colours and the dynamic play of textures and layers, are his unique interpretations of sensory stimuli like the shape of leaves, and thoughts and memories filtered through the imagination. Sathuvar’s colour palette ranges from striking monotones to psychedelic hues. His collages are fashioned from mixed materials including coloured paper, newspaper cuttings, images text and plywood.

Aneesh KalodeRajan’s travels and life experiences are the catalysts for his eclectic, often photo realist art works. Like the evocative snapshots of a photo album, his paintings document – mid-action and mid-gaze – the beauty of both the unusual and ordinary scenes and sights of life in India’s small towns, villages and cities. Rajan believes that his artworks don’t have an intended destination or definitive conclusion, just like his meandering travels. His draws from past and present experiences, perceptions and impressions, which then take a life of their own on his canvas.

Green, fecund and abundant, Dilip Kumar’s art represents fertility and growth. The contemporary artist’s works express the relationship and parallels between the growth that occurs in nature and the growth that he experiences in his own life. The abstract geometric shapes found in his acrylics on canvas mirror the colours, textures and veins of the leaves of Kumar’s favourite muse, the panaimaram, or Palmyra palm extensively found in Tamil Nadu. The transience of leaves and their brief life span serve as metaphors for the fragility of human life.

Sarvanan’s diverse mixed media paintings, sculptures and installations are made with unexpected materials including steel ball bearings and fibreglass. The Chennai-based artist who is influenced by Vedantic Hinduism, transforms these everyday substances into elevated abstract art. The interweaving and irradiating webs and patterns that resemble circular galaxies and mandalas address philosophical questions about self realisation, fate, reality and impermanence. He also traces the progress of transitional phenomena, like ant hills and penumbras, which reflect the ever changing nature of matter, form and self.

Sunil Sree’s mixed media works depict the tenuous relationship we share with the urban environment and the tussle of human versus nature. The contemporary artist has a deep passion for organic forms that are found in the natural world which compels him to work with natural materials like charcoal, wood and sticks. Sunil Sree also makes abstract drawings on metal boxes structured as packing boxes, which function as a metaphor for consumerism and materialism.