Work

Cosmic Earth (Chapters of the Day/ The Original Queer Spectrum by G.B. ’78/ Kundalini-Tantra) is a series of conceptual works on paper which I adapt modes of automatic writing and schematic models to build intuitive geometries. In a process I refer to as “performative South Asian-queer-feminist emotional-intellectual labor,” I write for 50 hours to complete a single work. My ‘spirit maps’ are influenced by queer visualities and Hindu/Buddhist ‘mandalas,’ as well as the concept of a musical raga (“color,” “dye,” “hue”) in Indian Classical Music, which is a melodic framework for improvisation with symbolic associations to seasons, times of day, and moods/emotions. Presented at the Elizabeth Foundation of Art, Open Studios 2018, New York, in association with Asia Contemporary Art Week.

we are all islands 2 is both an extension and distillation of we are all islands. In the second instalment of the exhibition which travelled to Kochi during the third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Ray introduces a new version of the video installation Sanctum II (forget you I shan’t). Solo exhibition at Mill Hall. Presented by Nine Fish & in association with Anupa Mehta Arts & Advisory. Kochi, 1 –  30 March, 2017.

we are all islands comprises painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and installations. Ray’s new body of work marks a new conceptual direction for the artist, unveiling a bold merger of concepts and practices she has been experimenting with over the last few years to explore postmodern identity. Solo exhibition at Nine Fish. Mumbai, 1 October – 6 November, 2016.

On the Seashore of Endless Worlds is Sharmistha Ray’s first painted sculptural installation. Inspired by the eponymous poem by Rabindranath Tagore, Ray transforms the hard industrial metal of steel into a sensory three – dimensional painting for public art space. Commissioned by JSW for the occasion of Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. Mumbai, 7 – 15 February, 2015.

Reflections + Transformations is an exploration of the metaphysical emergence of the autonomous female in transitioning states between abstraction and the figure. Alternating between layers of ambiguity and suggestion, the reflexive voice emerges at times in the form of naked flesh, and at other times, it is fugitively buried under paint. Solo exhibition at Aicon. New York, 24 October – 30 November, 2013.

OUT/OFF is an exhibition bringing together artists engaged with Indian textiles within the unconventional space of a well-known textile store in Mumbai. The exhibited paintings Crushed Flowers and A Midsummer Night’s Dream blur the boundaries between painting and textiles with their color patterning, surface qualities and tactility. Group exhibition organized by Chameleon Art Projects. Mumbai, 27 February – 31 March, 2013.

hidden geographies references historical styles like Romanticism and Impressionism and the lyrical agency of female vanguard painters, while positing a contrary paradigm to Western art historical ideals. Ray’s metascapes are suspended in time between mythos and reality exposing an intimate topography of the subconscious mind. Solo exhibition at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke. Mumbai, 19 January – 18 February, 2012.