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Seven ponds and a few raindrops

2017
Not on view
Ranjani Shettar is an Indian sculptor based in the Southern state of Karnataka, India. Shettar combines natural and industrial materials like beeswax, wood, organic dyes, vegetal pastes, lacquer, steel, and cloth, in her large-scale installations. Usually composed of numerous non-representational forms, Shettar creates immersive environments inspired by her observations of the now threatened natural environs of rural India. Each component of Shettar’s installations are individually finished by her and have a deliberately rough feel to them.

In Seven ponds and a few raindrops (2017), Shettar has molded pieces of salvaged stainless steel into a series of sensual, curved, and amoebic-like shape shifting-elements that have been covered in tamarind stained muslin. Her technique of staining the cloth with a natural paste is derived from a craft tradition she observed in the small village of Kinnala. Suspended from the ceiling, Seven ponds and a few raindrops seems to defy gravity, casting a series of mesmerizing shadows, and from a distance evokes the sense of having stumbled upon a surreal, hidden away oasis. Yet it is the empathically material quality of the work that disrupts the lyrical illusion of undisturbed, dreamlike tranquility and perfection.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Seven ponds and a few raindrops
  • Artist: Ranjani Shettar (Indian, born Bangalore, 1977)
  • Date: 2017
  • Medium: Muslin, stainless steel, tamarind and natural dyes
  • Dimensions: Overall: 19 ft. 1 in. × 18 ft. 7 in. × 8 ft.
  • Classifications: Installations, Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Gift of The Tia Collection, 2018
  • Object Number: 2018.61a–p
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Ranjani Shettar
    Courtesy Talwar Gallery, New York ׀ New Delhi
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

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Liana's lullaby, Ranjani Shettar Indian, Laser-cut relief block print on henna-dyed muslin (rolled into scroll)
Liana's lullaby
Ranjani Shettar
2015
Alae alae
Multiple artists/makers
2021
Varsha, Ranjani Shettar Indian, Artist's book
Varsha
Multiple artists/makers
2012
The Lightning Testimonies, Amar Kanwar Indian, Eight-channel digital video installation, black-and-white and color, sound, 32 min., 31 sec.
The Lightning Testimonies
Amar Kanwar
2007
In Search of Vanished Blood II, Nalini Malani Indian, Six-channel video installation, color, sound, 11 min. and five painted acrylic on Mylar cylinders
In Search of Vanished Blood II
Nalini Malani
2012/2017

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