Artists transform inner worlds into tangible art at this Chennai exhibition

An exhibition is quietly unfurling in Chennai, which explores how our inner worlds can materialise into tangible forms. The Alchemy of Thought gathers a diverse group of nine artists, including S Harshavardhana, Saraswati, Indrani Singh Cassime, Nandini Hirianniah, Potrarasan, Priya Sundaravalli, Suresh Prajapati, Shweta Mansingka, and Loganathan—each showcasing their perspective on how they can mould material.Each artist has their own journeys with clay.

This Chennai art exhibition is a blend of art and consciousness

For Nandini, clay arrived unannounced, changing the pace of her life. “One day, I happened to touch clay and I just couldn’t resist,” she recalls. Formerly in the high-speed world of entrepreneurship, she found in clay a medium that “slowed everything down, almost into slow motion.” Her works, often born from playful prompts or found objects, are not intended for utility. “Even just staring at something for the joy of it is usability,” she smiles.

Her pieces, a crafty marriage of rhythm and geometry, are not meant for practical use. Instead, they exist as pure expressions of thought, a testament to her belief that every little thing that gets made from her fingers is a collective consciousness of what she embody.

This profound connection between artist and material is echoed in the work of Shweta Mansingka, another artist featured in the exhibition. Her creations are a celebration of life’s eternal rhythms, where the elemental forces of earth and fire meet. Scorched surfaces and fragile, fruit-like forms become symbols of her work.

Shweta says, “For me, clay has been a integral part of my spiritual journey because of the whole nature of the process of ceramic artwork. At the raw stage, it surrenders and takes whichever form you want. But even then, it needs to be in a certain stage of drynesswhen it’s yielded. Otherwise it will collapse—similar to human nature.”

At the end, art is indeed a conversation within you and outside.

Open to all. On till August 23. 3 pm to 6.30 pm. At Apparao Galleries, Nungambakkam.