Devi Seetharam is an artist from Kerala, currently practicing in Bangalore, India.
She completed her BFA – Painting from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore 2011.
Before moving back to India in 2021; Devi grew up living in China, Cambodia, South Africa, India, Switzerland, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Mauritius, UAE and Australia.
Primarily a painter, she currently works with acrylic on canvas, using reductive techniques to create grain, texture and form. Thematically Devi explores the cultural psyche of the spaces she occupies.
Devi was shortlisted for the Incinerator and Darebin art prize and featured by KINGS gallery (Melbourne). She also participated in a three person show at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke (Mumbai) in 2020 and Lokame Tharavadu (Alappuzha) in 2021 curated by Bose Krishnamachari.
Kanikonna (Indian Laburnum) || Acrylic on Canvas || 120 x 120 cms || 2021
‘Brothers, Fathers and Uncles’ is a series by Devi Seetharam that attempts to tackle the patriarchal vestiges in her world that have resisted the sweep of time. Her recurring visuals and messaging are simple. Although the works are anchored in a vibrant, humid, evergreen landscape, Devi has instead portrayed a public space, that is tired, weathered and worn. Her figures draped in the traditional white mundu assume entitlement over each of these spaces. The temporal nature of flora measures the passing of time, The works raise unanswered questions of a gender omitted from each frame.
The artist illustrates a world where the postures and the remnants at the feet speak louder than the unseen and unheard conversations beyond the frames.
Credit: deviseetharam.com