Suchitra Mattai's 'In the absence of power. In the presence of love' at Roberts Projects

Suchitra Mattai's exhibition 'In the absence of power. In the presence of love' at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles (July 15 – August 26) reimagines histories of migration and labor through a maximalist visual language. The show features large-scale soft sculptures like 'phala (fruit)' (2023), massive hanging ornaments wrapped in tightly woven saris, connected to the ceiling by silver chains and gold cords. A seven-meter-long tapestry 'a cosmic awakening' hangs asymmetrically, its sagging midsection evoking a well-worn shawl. Mattai, who is based in Los Angeles after living in Georgetown, Guyana, draws on her Indian great-grandparents' history as indentured workers taken to Guyana by the British in the 19th century. Her work blends Indian miniature painting and Guyanese carnival traditions, using vivid colors like magenta, gold, and peacock-blue. In 'future perfect', she retouches a vintage needlepoint of Jean-Honoré Fragonard's 'Young Girl Reading' (1769) with brown embroidery floss, adding a magenta tassel, freshwater pearls, and beads spelling 'future'. The exhibition's curatorial statement describes her process as 'brown reclamation', appropriating idle poses from rococo paintings for liberated brown figures.