Karthik Pandian, Mandala 01, 2024, Mixed Media, 120 x 42 cm

Courtesy: Federica Schiavo Gallery

Karthik Pandian presents a new body of work in walnut ink, aquarelle crayon, and metal, drawing the geographies of Turtle Island and Palestine into relation. The works reflect Pandian’s deep and ongoing relationship with Indigenous activists in the Midwest of the United States, who refer to North America as Turtle Island, and his commitment to the linked struggles for liberation there and in Palestine.

Pandian’s drawings, sculptures, and durational works gather political energy, spiritual insight, and sacred arrangements of line and language towards speculative, communal futures. Basketball courts, mandalas, ripples, portals, and eclipses commingle in these works which seek to call “The New People”, a coalition of Native and non-Native communities foretold by the Anishinaabe in their Seven Fires Prophecy. Pandian complements these drawings with a new sculpture featuring a copper pipe from the well of his home, underscoring the significance of water and waterways to international flows of solidarity.

Karthik Ramanan Pandian is a conductor of energy. He is the son of healers Mariappan Ganesapandian (body) and Lalitha Pandian (spirit), who landed in the Bronx region of Turtle Island in 1972. Karthik is the grandson of South Indian Tamil Nadars who moved from rural villages to urban centers as far flung as Okpo, Burma, surviving invasion, perilous migration, and caste discrimination long enough to see the end of British colonialism. Karthik was born on the ancestral territory of the Tongva peoples in what is now known as Southern California in 1981. He was an unexpected and doted on third child, surrounded by the love of his older siblings and parents as well as the comforts afforded by his father’s income as a cardiologist. His mother is a proud caregiver and devout Hindu whose spiritual energy carries into Karthik’s practice, which spans film, sculpture, theater, dance, and music. He has presented his work at exhibition venues including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hammer, and Midway Contemporary Art and on digital platforms such as the Criterion Channel and Triple Canopy. Karthik cares for and is cared for by his partner Paige K. Johnston and his son, Aaru Motherwell Pandian. They share a home and studio on unceded Nipmuck territory which they call Sun & Moon Refuge. Karthik teaches nearby in the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies at Harvard University. He is also a guide, certified in offering Lama Rod Owens’ Seven Homecomings.

Karthik Pandian was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1981. He earned degrees from Brown University, Rhode Island and Staatliche Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste Staedelschule, Frankfurt before receiving his MFA from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena in 2008. He teaches in the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies at Harvard University.