Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran's 'Of Dreaming and Remembering' at Jhaveri Contemporary explores material performativity

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran's exhibition, 'Of Dreaming and Remembering,' showcased his most extensive project in India at Jhaveri Contemporary in Mumbai. The artist from Colombo referred to his work as 'material performativity,' where clay and bronze took on the appearance of different materials. He crafted a 'faux-studio mise en scène,' transferring the dynamic processes from his Sydney studio into the elegant gallery. The display included sculptural pieces made from bronze, patina, earthenware, stoneware, and glaze, precariously positioned on plinths constructed from plastic milk crates and paint buckets. Vivid builder's plastic lined the walls, serving as a backdrop for large-scale graffiti-like figures. One plinth featured a carousel of quickly cut images of devotional sculptures and masks gathered from museums and online. The gallery, overlooking the historic Gateway of India, deepened Nithiyendran's exploration of secular and sacred idolatry, with psychedelic figures incorporated into a comprehensive shrine of creation. His artistic practice blended instinct with intellect, resulting in new works that echoed antiquity, while the title suggested a focus on changing states of consciousness rather than a fixed resolution.