Madhvi Subrahmanian

Artist Statement

Having lived in three continents and in four countries, I belong to a world where change is the only constant. My work has been as inspired and altered by the challenges of new opportunities as by the limitations brought by new circumstances. Incubation, growth and movement find repeated expression in my works.

Layering coil over coil, my forms spiral upwards in a rhythm that is quiet and slow. The mark of the hand leave behind a trace on the skin of the form and give it texture. The forms I am compelled to make repeatedly, explore metaphorically the idea of containment, nurturing and protecting what lies within.

Seeds, pods, cocoons, organic structures all echo my migratory existence. Recent explorations have been both interactive and collaborative with the audience allowing for collective or personal memories to be evoked.

Allowing the subconscious to filter through my mind I strive to metaphorically narrate my personal story of growth and passage.

-- Madhvi Subrahmanian

Bio

Born in Mumbai, Madhvi Subrahmanian is an artist, curator and writer. Her initial training in ceramics was with Ray Meeker and Deborah Smith at the Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry India and she has attained her Masters in Fine Arts from Meadows School of the Arts, Dallas, TX. She currently lives and works between Mumbai and Singapore.

Madhvi Subrahmanian has been awarded the Charles Wallace Grant and other grants including the India Foundation of the Arts. She has been invited to several artists in residence programs in Japan, China, Korea, India, Thailand and US. Her sculptures and installations can be seen in several private and public collections such as the Mumbai Domestic Airport, India, Shigaraki Ceramic Sculptural Park, Japan, and Fule museum in Fuping, China. Madhvi’s works have been published in international magazines, like Ceramic Art and Perceptinon, Nueve Keramik and in books like Smoke firing by Jane Perryman and Contemporary Ceramics by Emmanuel Cooper. Madhvi’s work was also recently on the cover of Art India. She shows with Gallery Chemould in Mumbai and has participated in many solo and group exhibitions around the world. Most recently she was invited to be part of the first Ceramic biennale at Henan Museum in China and show at the Ayala Museum in Manila. Her current shows include the large installation Ode to the Unknown at the Singapore museum: Indian Heritage Center, and a group show in New Delhi.