Mahalakshmi Kannappan, also based in Singapore but originally from Chennai, focuses on the formal elements of art — form, color, and texture — through the medium of charcoal, with the recent addition of plaster. Her works resemble 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. As in Part of a Whole (2023) or Interwoven Realities (2024) but contained within the superficial contradictions in all her works, smooth yet rough, ordered yet chaotic, stable yet in flux, is a reflection of the fluidity of a constructed diasporic identity. With the transformation of charcoal from solid to liquid and back again and by challenging the conventional limits of materials, Mahalakshmi creates a minimalist vocabulary that speaks to the dynamic nature of our environments.