COEXIST: Randika de Silva
The complexities of the human psyche materialize into otherworldly tactile forms in Randika de Silva’s Coexist. Partly organic in their inspiration but belonging to a realm that is neither familiar nor alien, De Silva engages in an exercise of rendering the indecipherable world of thoughts more accessible and comprehensible.
The exhibition invites the viewer to contemplate the intricate and complex entanglements of human experiences and emotions - exploring the dynamic intrapersonal terrain of emotional turmoil, vulnerability, and resilience. The artist leans into biomorphic forms with a playful Ghibli-esque imagination, creating an atmosphere that is unnervingly fantastical and quirky.
Created using fabric and polyfill the forms are both organic and unearthly. The elements that spring forth from these forms mimic polyps, barnacles, hairs, limbs and tentacles, with embroidered patterns that appear at intervals on the surface. They invite contact, leaving the viewer both puzzled and unsettled all the while evoking a sense of comfort through its soft and inviting form.
Knots feature recurrently in De Silva’s work as she denotes unclear thoughts, moments of confusion and shifts in perception. The monochromatic hues become indicative of the mood, the feelings and pulsating sensations that arise. The work Muddle is an extension of the state of inertia our thought process is subjected to - leaving us befuddled and overwrought.
Tentacular forms oscillate in suspension, coming alive in Anarchy. Mimicking forest scapes dense with thick foliage, the installation with its pendulous root-like structures, simulates the experience of moving in and out across different strands of reasoning - that can sometimes confuse and leave a person distraught - all the while eliciting the optimistic possibility of navigating it and not getting caught in the labyrinth of our thoughts.
The possibility of striking an equilibrium is explored in Poise. The wire mobiles suspended in a delicate balance of black-and-white configurations reflect the necessary coexistence of contrasting and opposing ideas and beliefs for inner harmony - one that can be disrupted by the slightest of interventions.
The blend of the surreal, abstract and organic seems to suggest in its incongruity, the realms of our own consciousness - one that lies inaccessible, dormant, submerged and the other that is familiar, accessible and comforting. Laminea explores this intertwinement metaphorically. Visualised as different strata of the dermis, where the hair follicle-like structures percolate through its layers suggest how ideas intervene and take root while reshaping our conscience.
Coexist explores how thoughts interfere and intervene. The materiality of De Silva’s work, the process of creating the sculptures, and the metaphors embodied in them, invite the viewer to contemplate thoughts as abstract but tangible notions. Lurking deep inside the recesses of our minds, they shape, influence, manipulate, and prompt every decision we make, and how we engage with the outside world.
