Ranjani Shettar’s installation at Third Floor-Hermès embodies the magnanimity and enigma of the “Flame of the Forest” – a majestic tree considered sacred by Hindus. Its structure and resonance are the basis for this ethereal, sculptural installation that permeates physical and psychological space.

Shettar employs the evocative forms and textures of wood to construct organic sculptural forms that mediate space in the form of ceiling, wall and floor installations. The lush colors and divine treatment of teak and rosewood convey a tactile eroticism. Seduced by their simplicity and openness, our experience of Shettar’s works yields wonderment and surrender to their splendour.

Shettar is recognised for reincarnating traditional craft techniques into contemporary art forms through her use of natural and synthetic materials like wood, tamarind kernel, beeswax, latex, PVC tubing, silicone rubber, and metal. Her approach to materials, form and space accentuates the tenuous relationship between extremes and the latest works for Third Floor-Hermès, continue to testify Shettar’s innate ability to transmit concepts of history, process, time and evolution.

Based in Bangalore, Ranjani Shettar gained considerable international recognition with a recent exhibition On Line: Drawing Through the 20th Century at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), NY and solo exhibitions held at prestigious venues like The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2009), The Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (2008-09) and The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA (2008). Other prominent participations include 10th Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK (2010); 55th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (2008), 9th Lyon Biennial, France (2007), 8th Sharjah Biennale (2007), and 15th Sydney Biennale, Australia (2006).

Emi Eu
This is the eighth successive installation at Third Floor curated by Emi Eu, following ORDINARY PARADISE by Yeondoo Jung, LIFE AND DEATH IN VENICE by Ming Wong, NO NEED FOR FOREVER by Rei Sato, TRAVELER’S STORIES by Luis Terán, DISCOVERY AND JOURNEY by Flavia Da Rin, THE END DEPENDS ON THE BEGINNING THE BEGINNING DEPENDS ON THE END by Heman Chong and WANDER/WONDER by Jinnie Seo.

Emi Eu is the Director of Singapore Tyler Print Institute.