UNDRGRND ARTIST: MALAVIKA REDDY
SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2022
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Everything in art is about lines. The lines that outline a structure, lines that add depth to a subject, lines that indicate motion. There’s even the lines of the light waves hitting our eyes to indicate color, or the wavelengths of sound hitting our ears to indicate tone. Then there are the metaphorical and social lines that art can cross to serve purpose and progress a dialogue around issues. Malavika Reddy utilizes every line to its fullest in her art which all stems from the most important line in her life, the line in her family tree that connects her to her father, DLN Reddy.
The daughter of a renowned Indian artist has been creating her entire life and engulfed in “the womb of art” by watching her father, and other artists, paint, etch, sculpt and express themselves visually.
A daunting task for some, Malavika manages to stand on her own with her own distinct style and messaging in her work. Once an avid book reviewer, Malavika finds inspiration from poems (some her own) and stories. She blends visuals with the written word beautifully in her series Printmakers Expedition. Malavika uses the folk tales by Angela Carter to celebrate feminity and sensuality in the female form.
Malavika balances over the line of objectification and perfectly within this this series, “when I do use the female form,” Malavika says, “my deliberate focus is to make sure that I capture the essence of her, in a sensual, aesthetic and balanced way, with respect to her dignity and divinity. So even if it’s sexual, I try my best to show her as sensuous and empowered rather than objectified.”
“I think a lot of woman from cultures such as mine feel shy or even shame around expressing their sexuality and I want women from my culture to see my work and feel assured and empowered.”
It should be no surprise that a strong woman like Malavika has found a way to carve out her own space under the shadow of renowned artist (whose work is in the Library of Congress in Washington DC). Her piece Sermerssuaq is based on a tale that tells the story of a woman by the same name who “was so powerful that she could lift a kayak on the tips of three fingers.” Sermessuaq was so strong that when she beat men in arm wrestling she would ask, “Where were you when the testicles were given out?” It is hard to ignore the direct line to her father’s work that also focused on the nude form. So while her strength and confidence are her own, the impact a father can have in supporting his daughter to become that woman should be something all of us who are raising daughters aspire to achieve.
