Hymn of Creation

Before my parable came into being, I meditated at the source that struck the match of my personal mythos. My mother’s womb. Dark space covered further by a soft veil of meta darkness that rendered my own body invisible to me. What is the value of this void? Can it speak? If it did, what would be its first words? A shape finds meaning, and this meaning becomes life. Fingers hold the riddle of knowledge, the keys locked away in the centre of the chest. Listening intently to the burst of energy, another organ finds space to mutate and become a foot, then the left. My body becomes a vessel for history to embody itself. This gathering of consciousness into something fathomable to hold it, I become a tapestry of sacredness. A brass vessel full of cool water, poured over figures of gods as formless and saintly black as the edge of our universe. I pray for my first breath, and then emerge into familiar light. The Earth shivers in wonder upon my arrival. Hymn of Creation is borrowed from a poem in the ancient Sanskrit scripture, the Rig Veda, that speculates the scientific and metaphysical origins of our Universe. In the alternative world of Pandey’s paintings, human and more than human life forms, collaborate in the process to create new life. Through these works Pandey attempts to bridge insights from mythology, spirituality, nature and technology to generate a dialogue that imagines a non-linear approach towards creationism of both the body and consciousness and unfold narratives foregrounding interspecies collaborations and imagine symbolic and miraculous futures. Rithika Pandey (Varanasi, India, 1988), lives and works between London and Mumbai. Recent solo exhibitions include: 2022 - Grosvenor Gallery, London, UK (upcoming); ADA, Rome, IT. 2021 - Solo Show, Unit 1 Gallery Workshop, London, UK. 2020 - ArcadeCampfa, Cardiff, UK. Recent group exhibitions include: 2022 - Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, curated by Marcelle Joseph and Sarah Holdaway, UK; D Contemporary, London, UK. 2021 - Paradise Row Projects, London, UK; Daniel Raphael Gallery, London, UK; Guts Gallery, London, UK. 2020 - Barbican artworks project space, London, UK.