Drink up striking colours and minimalist compositions in this solo exhibition by Sinta Tantra in London. The British-Balinese artist is using the space at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery to explore her artistic journey, from public art to architectural interventions and works on canvas.
The exhibition title ‘Your Private Sky’ is lifted from a manuscript of the same name written by Buckminster Fuller, the American architect and polymath who inspired Tantra’s investigation into philosophy and the imagination by way of mathematics. It was in this text that Fuller outlined the design for his glass geodesic structure, relevant to Tantra for its ability to project and reflect. ‘The idea of “your private sky” expresses a twofold experience – a mode of thought that is both collective and individual. Blue-sky thinking, where visionary ideas can grow from simple musings,’ she says.
A folding screen of linen canvas by Sinta Tantra installed at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London. Photography: Luca Piffaretti
With a decade of experience in public art, Tantra is well-versed in the command of spatial systems, scale and dimensions. This has manifested in her newer works, small-scale canvases that elevate line drawings into abstracted geodesic-style forms. ‘Whereas my previous works used colour to celebrate the spectacle, I recently started thinking about what would happen if colour was taken out of the equation,’ she says.
‘After studying the blueprint designs used in preparation for my public art projects, I became fascinated by line, and how at times it offered more imaginative possibilities than colour,’ says Tantra. Two questions motivated the minimal, stripped back canvases that can be seen in the first part of the exhibition: ‘Can total immersion be achieved through the simplicity of line alone?’ and ‘How does this relational experience alter the way we see and imagine?’
The second part of the exhibition features a floor installation, giving visitors a splash of the public and architectural spirit of her work. It’s a maximalist piece that absorbs its riders in graphic shapes and dazzling colours lifted from tropical motifs and nature. §
