What would reality be like if you looked beyond human relationships to include the non-human world too? Like plants, animals, land, and other invisible forces that shape events? Our 2023 winner in Art visualises these realities in her work
Rithika Pandey | 24
Artist
Born in Varanasi, Rithika Pandey grew up in different regions of Africa—Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya—before moving back to Mumbai. She studied Contemporary Art Practices at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, and took a year off to travel abroad, do a couple of foreign residencies and develop more mature works. She ended up in a small town in Wales, UK, where she felt she could make new works and reflect. This is where she created some breakthrough works that shaped her practice.
During the Covid-19 induced lockdowns in the UK, Pandey came across the works of authors such as Ursula K Le Guin and Donna J Haraway, which opened up a whole new world of non-human agency to her. Back in India, while travelling in remote areas of Himachal Pradesh, she developed a greater intimacy with the natural world, which led her to create new world.
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“We held a solo show of Rithika’s work at the Grosvenor Gallery in May 2022. It was a great success, with interest from many private collectors and one or two institutions. She produces exciting, dynamic and contemplative work, based on deeply personal experiences. The themes and narratives come across strongly, and we found viewers really engaged with the work. I think she’s a great talent and will go on to do fantastic things,” says Charles Moore, director, Grosvenor Gallery, London.
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Although painting has been instinctive for Pandey from a very young age, and it has been primary medium of expression, she thinks it is growing larger than what it is right now; she sees the painted world expanding into new horizons such as films and more immersive experiences.
(This story appears in the 10 February, 2023 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)