In the carefully composed, surreal tableaux of Mumbai-based artist Rithika Merchant, mythological creatures converse effortlessly with flora and fauna inside dream-like realms. Insects, celestial stars, metaphysical tendrils, and all-seeing eyes share space with human bodies possessing the commanding heads of raptors. Merchant’s strange yet alluring symmetry contains what appear to be esoteric rituals or quiet, reverent communions with the natural world. Each speculative, fable-like narrative taps deeply into our contemporary collective anxieties surrounding the environment, while simultaneously offering a fragile, persistent hope for ecological and spiritual healing.
Merchant’s vibrant new body of work centers on hybrid creatures and a palpable sense of the sacred, forming the core of her solo exhibition, The Dreaming Realm, currently on view at Galerie LJ in Paris. Across these intricate works, she harnesses elemental phenomena—the earth, plants, fire, water, and the stars—to emphasize both the volatility and the enduring strength of the natural world. Amid sweeping scenes of catastrophic floods and volcanic eruptions, individuals participate in enigmatic activities and ceremonies that exemplify cooperation, mutual aid, and unyielding determination in the face of crisis.
The gallery notes that Merchant incorporates “theoretical, historical, and iconographic references, drawing notably on the notion of empirical experience based on sensory perception, the Greek concept of Kairos to question the subjectivity of time, as well as research on the Beguines of the Middle Ages.” The Beguines were a unique historical community of financially independent Christian women who lived outside traditional monastic vows and occasionally practiced Christian mysticism. Flourishing primarily in northwestern Europe during the medieval period, some of these communities have modern continuities that still exist today, providing an intriguing historical parallel for Merchant’s exploration of autonomy, communal living, and spiritual devotion.
Within The Dreaming Realm, the artist continually nods to rich symbols of consciousness and transformation. For instance, the luna moth is deployed to evoke the subtle power of intuition and profound life transitions, while majestic ravens represent deep wisdom, foresight, and a functioning bridge between different realms of existence. Communality forms the conceptual and visual nucleus of Merchant’s paintings, most notably in her ongoing series Interspecies Care. This specific body of work focuses closely “on social organization, interdependence, reciprocity between species, and knowledge sharing,” according to the gallery, reframing how humans might view their place within a broader, more-than-human ecological network.
The Dreaming Realm continues its run through November 21 in Paris, inviting viewers to step into a meditative space where myth and ecology intersect. Additional works and updates on the exhibition can be viewed on Merchant’s official Instagram account.
