Wrapping Air In Cloth and Other Seemingly Impossible Tasks, Nirmal Raja

Wrapping Air In Cloth and Other Seemingly Impossible Tasks, Nirmal Raja
November 8 – December 21, 2019

 

 

Nirmal Raja is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Milwaukee. She approaches her practice as a process of sifting and communicating sensations and ideas with varied materials and processes. Conceptually driven and thematic, her work straddles the personal and the political and is a response to lived experiences that are distilled and strengthened by research in the studio and through reading. The concept for Wrapping Air in Cloth sprouted from a conversation that Raja had with her mother on the subject of meditation. During this dialogue, Raja’s mother mentioned an ancient metaphor that states, “harnessing the mind is as difficult as wrapping air in cloth.”

This vivid image stayed with Raja in her thoughts as it has already been an integral part of her art practice – where content is slippery, and forms, insufficient. Resonating not only with her process, it is also a reflection of her perspective of our current political climate; where there often is the attempt to place the human spirit into packages that can be contained, sold and bartered, or destroyed within violent borders and solid walls. This exhibition is a series of small and simple propositions that dwell on the capacity of this spirit to transcend containment. It is about the common denominator, the essence of us all and the fabric that we call “our world.” Raja’s current body of work for Wrapping Air In Cloth includes re-worked textiles, ceramics created from molds of everyday familial objects, reinterpreted and hand cut paper maps and a new video performance piece. Through these works, Raja merges traditional and new media forms to examine notions of memory, identity, place and belonging.

Nirmal Raja is actively creating performative collaborations with other artists and the larger community. Occasionally, she curates exhibitions and organizes and facilitates situations that articulate moments of connection and empathy. Raja is a mentor for Milwaukee Artists Resource Network’s mentorship program, and has participated in solo and group shows in the Midwest, nationally and internationally.