Rajni Perera: Futures

×

Expand

Rajni Perera, “Revenge 3,” 2019

polymer clay, aluminum, paint, leather, lace, Ring for Truth (solid cast bronze wearable unit) (Courtesy of the artist and Patel Brown) (Photo courtesy of the artist and PatelBrown © Rajni Perera.)

Winter Opening: Saturday, January 25| 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.

Experimenting with mediums as varied as painting, sculpture, and photography, Toronto-based artist Rajni Perera expresses her vision of imagined futures in which mutated subjects adapt to exist in dystopian realms through strength and resilience. Perera draws deeply on the artistic traditions of Sri Lanka, her childhood home. Indian miniature painting, medieval armour, South Asian textiles, and science fiction also factor into her body of work that spans feminist and diasporic narratives while contemplating survival in an environmentally degraded future. 

Her work responds to existential threats with creativity and invention, offering a vision charged with humour, critique, hope, and dread. Looking to the past and to the future, and endowed with a powerful imagination, Perera is singularly equipped to express the increasingly chaotic, often frightening, and sometimes hopeful world in which we find ourselves today.

Futures includes nearly thirty works from various stages of the artist’s career. Through the manifestation of various mediums from functional sculptures to intricate paintings, Perera looks ahead to uncertain times threatened by climate change and looming social inequities. Her future goddesses and inventive armours prevail over dystopic realms, mutating to adapt to challenging environments.

This exhibition is organized and circulated by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. It is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue featuring an interview with the artist by curator Sarah Milroy, as well as essays by leading international literary figures Fariha Róisín and Britt Wray. Surrey Art Gallery is the only West Coast stop on the tour.

Tour and Conversation with Negarra A. Kudumu and Rajni Perera: Saturday, March 1 | 2:00 p.m.–4 p.m.