Prabhavathi Meppayil se/hundred and five, 2017
Gesso panel stamped with thinnam
Gipspaneele gestempelt mit Thinnam
Gipspaneele gestempelt mit Thinnam
55 x 47 x 5 cm (21 5/8 x 18 1/2 x 2 in) each, 4 panels
je 55 x 47 x 5 cm, 4 Paneele
je 55 x 47 x 5 cm, 4 Paneele
“se/hundred and five” (2017) consists of 4 panels covered in layers of white gesso whose surface has been marked with a thinnam—a traditional jewelry tool used by goldsmiths. The shape of the panels is determined by the shape of the tool mark. The traces and imprints left on the panels vary according to the force and angle with which the metal tip hits the surface of the lime gesso. These performative operations echo the artisanal and cultural traditions of the artist’s background.
Prabhavathi Meppayil transposes in her works the techniques and materials associated with the ancestral craft of goldsmithery into a contemporary plastic language that belongs to the modernist canon. Meppayil’s practice is process oriented, focusing on materials and tools. As she says herself, “the panels filled with tool marks [are] the abstraction of the tapping sound of the tool.”
The work was conceived on occasion of the artist's first solo exhibition at Esther Schipper, Berlin, in 2018.
Prabhavathi Meppayil transposes in her works the techniques and materials associated with the ancestral craft of goldsmithery into a contemporary plastic language that belongs to the modernist canon. Meppayil’s practice is process oriented, focusing on materials and tools. As she says herself, “the panels filled with tool marks [are] the abstraction of the tapping sound of the tool.”
The work was conceived on occasion of the artist's first solo exhibition at Esther Schipper, Berlin, in 2018.
Scroll