Local artist draws inspirations from the ups and downs in life
In the far left corner of the brand new BOOM Gallery on South Pearl Street, bright bursts of orange and patterned fabrics cut into teardrop-shapes sprawl like a lily pad over the concrete floor, shooting wildly up the walls and baseboards in all directions.
This untitled installation is the newest of 16 pieces created by Suchitra Mattai specifically for her surreal Spring 2010 exhibition, Hypomania.
Artist Suchitra Mattai poses in front of one of her "psychological and topographical" pieces of art June 22 at BOOM Art Gallery on South Pearl Street and Louisiana. Photo by Luke Powell
The title Hypomania refers to a limbo-like psychological state during which a person can experience the effects of mania illustrated by the emotional dualism of bipolarity.
“I found it to be an appropriate title for this body of work because the pieces explore the relationship between the psychological and the topographical,” Mattai said. “The intense colors, fractured landscapes and distorted realities are meant to relate to this particular psychological state.”
Mattai’s conceptual perspective of bipolar disorder stems from her personal experience with the condition. The puzzling scenes and settings in her collection allude to devastating natural disasters which are interwoven with associative symbols of powerlessness and confusion — a relatable, moving interpretation.
Mattai spent many hours developing her untitled, free-form piece into the characteristic cornerstone of her exhibit, spotlighting her dominant themes of disorientation and abstraction.
“I’m most excited and most critical about that piece,” she said.
A lifelong artist, Mattai began her professional career in 2003 after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia with her Master of Fine Arts, specializing in painting and drawing. Her work has been featured in New American Paintings, a bimonthly exhibition journal that showcases only 40 painters per issue.
Additionally, Mattai was accepted into the Drawing Center’s Viewing Program and Artist Registry in New York. She has shown her art in Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Denver.
“I love her work,” said Wynne Reynolds, a Denver artist also represented through BOOM Gallery. “Her palette is so interesting to me. I don’t consider my own colors to be bright, but, these really bright, bright greens and brilliant oranges are just striking to me.”
Full of electric colors, Mattai’s paintings are like vibrant dreams where detached thoughts blend together, creating harmony and vision in chaos.
“My wife’s work has … kind of engaged a playful dialogue between these disparate concepts,” said Mattai’s husband of eight years, Adam Graves, a philosophy professor at Metro. “She uses abstract landscapes but tries to imbue them with certain features that have a psychological bend.”
Graves, acting as Mattai’s most supportive yet harshest critic, actively discusses her art and helps her to develop her inspirations cohesively.
Coupled with their two sons, Devananda, 5, and Dhilan, 2, family and motherhood has absolutely impacted the imagery of her art in the liberal utilization of fairytale elements and mythical structuring.
There is no single inspiration from which Mattai operates. The central elements in her work are drawn from a collective bank of her memories, folklore and popular culture, which she codes in her own language of symbolism and translates to the canvas in exciting, energetic and thought-provoking forms.
International transience is one deep-rooted explanation of influence over her work. Mattai has lived in Guyana, India, Canada and the U.S.
“Living within multiple cultural spheres has placed me in a state of disorientation, and I want to express both the positive and negative effects of this,” said Mattai. “The landscapes are often from places I’ve visited or lived in, and the ornamental elements are intuitive but rooted in South Asian textile designs.”
Mattai’s work can be viewed on her personal website, suchitramattai.com and purchased at boomgallery.com.
