Rithika Merchant

Rithika Merchant was born in 1986 in Mumbai, India. She traveled around the world for over a decade. She studied painting at Parsons School in New York City and completed several residencies in Portugal, Greece, and Romania in 2008. After living in Barcelona for over a year, she returned to Mumbai in 2022. Currently based between Mumbai and Belgium, her paintings draw on various cultures, religions, myths, and traditional narratives. In the midst of Merchant’s depictions of surreal and supernatural phenomena, there are motifs of the earth and nature that are familiar (as if viewed from a spaceship). Some show human-like beings exploring the sea and sky, while others float through space as comets rain down.

“I see the universe as one, and I’m looking for answers about what will happen after the Holocene and the Anthropocene. I focus on the sky. In Birth of a New World (2020), certain beings, which are agents of humans, realize what we have done to the Earth and wander through the sky, water, and land; Return to Stardust (2021) shows a primordial time when they search for answers in the stars; in Festival of the Phoenix Sun (2022), these beings look into the past for solutions; and in my latest work, the Terraformation series (2022-2023), show them leaving Earth and rebuilding a utopia, a new world.”

Merchant usually works with gouache, watercolor, and ink on paper. Watercolor is difficult to add to or undo, she says, so she has to concentrate and stay on her toes throughout the entire process. Merchant is drawn to the translucent, washed-out look of watercolor.

“I’m drawn to things that have a strong symbolic meaning, things that have an element of storytelling. I draw on literary, mythology, and visual references and find great inspiration in small details.”

Images from 17th-century botanical drawings, the traditional Indian pattern Kalamakari, Mughal paintings, Kaligat folk art, architectural elements from Art Deco or Art Nouveau, and maps are mixed together in Merchant’s work. Sometimes the paper is folded and painted to form a quilt, and sometimes they are presented as a single geometric object. Recently, Merchant has also started working with collage. Her pieces are elaborated with unique patterns, conveying Merchant’s own narration and message. In 2018 and 2020, she collaborated with French fashion label Chloé, and her collections received awards from not only Vogue India and Vogue World but also art foundations around the world.
“I am attracted to symbols that are not culturally specific and are universally recognizable, such as images of snow, the sun, the moon, and plants. I create my own symbols and vocabulary based on these. The characters in my work are also intentionally free of race, gender, and ethnicity. This is because I want the viewer to be able to enter my work and be transported to a new world, regardless of their nationality or where they live. As an artist, I believe I am creating a world. Ideas hold infinite possibilities and creative paths.”

Rithika Merchant’s Desk