Everything is impermanent. Even in moments of stillness, shifts occur in the flow of nature and our conscious sense of time. Artist Nirmal Raja uses these principles to explore meditative and ephemeral experiences with multimedia installations and two-dimensional pieces in her solo exhibition, “Transience: Time Based and Ephemeral Work,” currently on view at Alfons Gallery.
Raja is a native of India and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing from the UW-Milwaukee, where she is an associate lecturer. Her cultural identity strongly influences her work, particularly in pieces such as Never-ending Line. These are large-scale drawings, placed on the floor and made with sand. The practice is a traditional art form in India, and done specifically by women. These are often created at the threshold of the home. Two are included in the exhibition, located just outside the main gallery space. The imagery Raja uses is biological, and her references to mitochondrial DNA reflect this form of sand drawing as an artistic practice of women, passed down from one generation to another. It is a strong analogy for the transference of genetic identity through the maternal line.
The sand pieces are temporary and notions of fluidity are also addressed in two large installations incorporating video. Potentially Empty is a platform upon which is projected a bowl. A hand moves along the rim as though creating sound. A concave depression forms something like a physical bowl, where moving images of leaves and snow recall seasonal passages. There is a play between the notion of presence and absence, as the images are merely illusions of physical reality.
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Passage and presence are similarly part of Trace. Fabric is patched together in a sheer curtain, and projections of people appear and disappear. The delicate nature of the work is described by Raja as a way of recalling how people, places and experiences exist in memory, sometimes with clarity, but often as a gentle, transitory atmosphere. Like many of the pieces in this exhibition, its reflective nature is one that connects with the endlessly unfolding contours of life and time.
Through Oct. 18 at Alfons Gallery, St. Joseph Center, 1501 S. Layton Blvd.Meta Description: Milwaukee artist Nirmal Raja explores the impermanence of life in her exhibit, “Transience: Time Based and Ephemeral Work,” currently on view at Alfons Gallery.
