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RANJANI SHETTAR

Dewdrops and Sunshine

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
November 4, 2011 - February 26, 2012

RANJANI SHETTAR - Exhibitions - Talwar Gallery

Transitions (Detail), 2003

Ranjani Shettar: Dewdrops and Sunshine showcases the artist’s unique approach to sculpture including material experimentation, relationship to space, engagement with nature, exploration of tradition and resonance with modernism. Often transforming natural phenomena into magical forms, Shettar creates sculptures informed by a material openness that borrows from Indian craft traditions filtered through her own novel sensibility. But Shettar is not simple a formal purist. It is her ongoing quest to present a synthesis of form and narrative through a vocabulary uniquely her own that makes her practice singular within the terrain of contemporary sculpture and installation art, which is rife with, on the one hand, found object one-liners, and on the other, a dizzying array of outsourced fabrications

The works on display in this exhibition explore a wide spectrum of natural phenomena: the kinetic response of plants in the presence of sunlight and to sudden movement; the human sneeze as a reflex to bright light; the interaction of water and sunlight; and the fluorescence of fireflies. Dewdrops and Sunshine presents a sampling of Shettar’s sculptural approach; all of the selections on some way reflect upon formal ideas of volume, suspension/attachment, light and shadow, as well as materiality. 

"Visitors will be amazed by the diversity of the materials used, the biological and cultural concepts Shettar explores and the spatial engagement one has with the works – truly a phenomenal experience.”

-Gerard Vaughan, Director NGV




 

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Fire in the Belly, 2007

Wood, automobile paint, stainless steel, and fishline

120" x 156" x 138"
Fire in the Belly, 2007 (Detail)
Fire in the Belly, 2007 (Detail)
Fire in the Belly, 2007
Fire in the Belly, 2007 (Detail)
Fire in the Belly, 2007 (Detail)
Fire in the Belly, 2007 (Detail)
Fire in the Belly, 2007

Wood, automobile paint, stainless steel, and fishline

120" x 156" x 138"

Fire in the Belly, 2007

Wood, automobile paint, stainless steel, and fishline

120" x 156" x 138"

Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-2008

Stainless steel, muslin cloth, tamarind kernel powder paste, lacquer

192″ x 288″ x 168″
Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-2008
Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-2008 (Detail)
Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-2008
Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-2008 (Detail)
Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-2008

Stainless steel, muslin cloth, tamarind kernel powder paste, lacquer

192″ x 288″ x 168″

Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-2008

Stainless steel, muslin cloth, tamarind kernel powder paste, lacquer

192″ x 288″ x 168″

Touch Me Not, 2006-2007

Lacquered wooden beads, pigments, stainless steel

96" x 432" x 36"
Touch Me Not, 2006-2007 (Detail)
Touch Me Not, 2006-2007
Touch Me Not, 2006-2007 (Detail)
Touch Me Not, 2006-2007 (Detail)
Touch Me Not, 2006-2007 (Detail)
Touch Me Not, 2006-2007

Lacquered wooden beads, pigments, stainless steel

96" x 432" x 36"

Touch Me Not, 2006-2007

Lacquered wooden beads, pigments, stainless steel

96" x 432" x 36"

Heliotropes, 2005-2011

Vulcanized Latex, cotton thread and steel

85" x 168" x 65"
Heliotropes, 2005-2011 
Heliotropes, 2005-2011 (Detail)
Heliotropes, 2005-2011 (Detail)
Heliotropes, 2005-2011
Heliotropes, 2005-2011 (Detail)
Heliotropes, 2005-2011

Vulcanized Latex, cotton thread and steel

85" x 168" x 65"

Heliotropes, 2005-2011

Vulcanized Latex, cotton thread and steel

85" x 168" x 65"

Interplay, 2011

Thread, beeswax, pigment, and lacquered wooden beads

173 3/4" x 196" x 171 1/2"
Interplay, 2011
Interplay, 2011 (Detail)
Interplay, 2011 (Detail)
Interplay, 2011

Thread, beeswax, pigment, and lacquered wooden beads

173 3/4" x 196" x 171 1/2"

Interplay, 2011

Thread, beeswax, pigment, and lacquered wooden beads

173 3/4" x 196" x 171 1/2"

Transitions, 2003

Neem wood, silicone, fish line, gulagangi seeds

39" x 60" x 36"
Transitions, 2003 (Detail)
Transitions, 2003 
Transitions, 2003 (Detail)
Transitions, 2003

Neem wood, silicone, fish line, gulagangi seeds

39" x 60" x 36"

Transitions, 2003

Neem wood, silicone, fish line, gulagangi seeds

39" x 60" x 36"

Flame of the Forest, 2011

Carved teak wood, lacquered wood and pigments 

24" x 24" x 11 1/2"
Flame of the Forest, 2011
Flame of the Forest, 2011
Flame of the Forest, 2011 (Detail)
Flame of the Forest, 2011

Carved teak wood, lacquered wood and pigments 

24" x 24" x 11 1/2"

Flame of the Forest, 2011

Carved teak wood, lacquered wood and pigments 

24" x 24" x 11 1/2"

Fire in the Belly, 2007

Wood, automobile paint, stainless steel, and fishline

120" x 156" x 138"

Fire in the Belly, 2007

Wood, automobile paint, stainless steel, and fishline

120" x 156" x 138"

Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-2008

Stainless steel, muslin cloth, tamarind kernel powder paste, lacquer

192″ x 288″ x 168″

Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-2008

Stainless steel, muslin cloth, tamarind kernel powder paste, lacquer

192″ x 288″ x 168″

Touch Me Not, 2006-2007

Lacquered wooden beads, pigments, stainless steel

96" x 432" x 36"

Touch Me Not, 2006-2007

Lacquered wooden beads, pigments, stainless steel

96" x 432" x 36"

Heliotropes, 2005-2011

Vulcanized Latex, cotton thread and steel

85" x 168" x 65"

Heliotropes, 2005-2011

Vulcanized Latex, cotton thread and steel

85" x 168" x 65"

Interplay, 2011

Thread, beeswax, pigment, and lacquered wooden beads

173 3/4" x 196" x 171 1/2"

Interplay, 2011

Thread, beeswax, pigment, and lacquered wooden beads

173 3/4" x 196" x 171 1/2"

Transitions, 2003

Neem wood, silicone, fish line, gulagangi seeds

39" x 60" x 36"

Transitions, 2003

Neem wood, silicone, fish line, gulagangi seeds

39" x 60" x 36"

Flame of the Forest, 2011

Carved teak wood, lacquered wood and pigments 

24" x 24" x 11 1/2"

Flame of the Forest, 2011

Carved teak wood, lacquered wood and pigments 

24" x 24" x 11 1/2"

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