Ranjani Shettar: Seven ponds and a few raindrops

Indian sculptor Ranjani Shettar (born 1977) combines natural and industrial materials—such as beeswax, wood, organic dyes, vegetal pastes, lacquer, steel, and cloth—in her large-scale installations. Typically composed of numerous non-representational forms, Shettar's immersive environments are inspired by her observations of the now-threatened natural environs of rural India.

For Seven ponds and a few raindrops (2017), the artist molded pieces of stainless steel into a series of sensual, curved, amoebic, shape-shifting elements that have been covered in tamarind-stained muslin. Suspended from the ceiling, the work seems to defy gravity, casting a series of mesmerizing shadows, which, from a distance, evoke the sense of having stumbled upon a surreal, hidden-away oasis.

"Affirms [the artist's] ethical and aesthetic commitment to the natural world" —Architectural Digest India

". . . pays homage to the artist's cultural history, while simultaneously acknowledging its inextricable relationship to the land that produced it." —ArtAsiaPacific

"Both [Huma] Bhabha's and Shettar's hyperrealist works have a special relevance in today's global context." —Livemint