The Archaeology of Tomorrow

Sri Lanka-born artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran digs through memory, myth, and clay to sculpt a speculative future

- By SHAIKH AYAZ

“Every piece that you see here is handmade,” says Sri Lanka-born artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, as he ushers a select few into Mumbai’s Jhaveri Contemporary.

For his ambitious new show, Of Dreaming and Remembering, he has transformed the gallery space to echo his Sydney studio—its creative chaos, its tranquil order, and the liminal cradle he calls a “parallel reality.” His signature idol-like figures—from the mysteriously monstrous to the sublime—fill the gallery's two rooms, as do paintings he has made on locally sourced tarpaulin sheets. Presently living in Australia, he has worked with materials ranging from bronze and clay to wood and found objects, which he relies on for their “randomness and surprise.”