Prefer the Past, Acrylic, burlap, 70 x 40 inches
Alchemy is occurring at Hammond Harkins Galleries in Columbus, Ohio where Kaveri Raina has opened a portal to another world in her magical first solo at the gallery.
Prefer the Past (detail)
Kaveri, a native of New Delhi, spent part of her childhood in India before relocating to the United States in 2000, and the works on display at Hammond Harkins reflect that dual sense of place. But it would be a disservice to Ms. Raina to say the canvases merely straddle two worlds; They create new ones. By fusing her connections with India, it’s traditions, colors, textures and mythology with a contemporary approach to painting Ms. Raina re-interprets centuries of tradition with fresh eyes, synthesizing a bridge between past and future. The paintings burlap supports, referencing the vessels that transported the rice and staples of her youth and the humble textiles of the marginalized become transportive vessels of another sort under Kaveri’s skillful hand. Painting from both the back and front of the support and using the burlap’s rugged, tactile transparency, Ms. Kaveri evokes the push and pull of past and present, the ephemeral and the visceral, the seen and unseen, the forgotten and the remembered. Her use of overlapping mythical forms, staining of surface and lush layered color further envelope the viewer in a landscape of dreams and memory, awakening the senses and catapulting the viewer from the temporal realm into the sensual beyond.
Gallery view from entrance
Walking Around, Acrylic, oil pastel, burlap, 60 x 48 Inches
From left: Shy Around and Prefer the Past
Shy Around, Acrylic, burlap, 60 x 48 Inches
From Right: Will I Be Missed (Future), Overthrow Slightly and Stray Delight
Will I Be Missed (Future), Acrylic, dye, burlap, 70 x 40 Inches
Overthrow Slightly, Acrylic, dye, burlap, 70 x 40 Inches
Stray Delight, Acrylic, burlap, 70 x 40 inches
From right: Forgotten Pleasures, Shy In, Hanuman Mukut and Will I Be Missed
Forgotten Pleasures, Acrylic, dye, burlap , 70 x 40 inches
Forgotten Pleasures (Detail)
Shy In, Acrylic, burlap, 60 x 48 Inches
Hanuman Mukut
Will I Be Missed, Acrylic, dye, burlap, 70 x 40 inches
For more information about Hammond Harkins Galleries and Kaveri Raina please check out their websites at:
The Artist's Periscope 
that should be “your” writing. darn autocorrect!
Thank you for your insights into these works. You’re writing is very moving.
Thanks, Jane. I’m glad you like the writing. I feel like it is getting better and that I am finally finding my groove.