Mahalakshmi Kannappan’s practice explores the fluid nature of identity, memory, and transformation, drawing from her experiences as a diasporic artist navigating shifting cultural landscapes. Working primarily with charcoal, black lime plaster, and wood, she creates textured, tactile works that reflect the balance between stability and change, presence and absence, and the continuous process of growth and renewal.
Her work ‘Part of a Whole’ (2023) resembles minimal black landscapes with smooth planes, surface textures, and rough crevices and are made by grinding charcoal to powder, liquefying it with glue, pouring it on wood bases, manipulating flow, and carving grooves once hardened. ‘Interrupted Rhythm (2024)’ mirrors the unpredictable nature of life through irregular, layered textures.
Her use of black lime plaster gives her works depth and complexity, with smooth planes juxtaposed against cracks and rough surfaces, embodying transformation and impermanence. By integrating light and shadow into her visual language, Kannappan elevates overlooked elements into poignant reflections on change and continuity.
Mahalakshmi earned her Diploma in Fine Arts, Specialisation in Painting from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (2018) Singapore, and her Bachelors in Visual Communication from Bharathiyar University, India (2002).