Molding Alternative Narratives: Conversation With Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran

In 2014, the engaging ceramic and installation-based practice of Sri Lankan-born, Sydney-based Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran earned him the annual New South Wales Visual Arts Fellowship for Emerging Artists, which then led to a slew of awards and exhibitions. In late August, Nithiyendran completed a month-long mentoring program focusing on clay, at the Clayarch Gimhee Museum in South Korea, with Thai-born Australian artist Vipoo Srivilasa, and he also won the Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award—for which he received the grand prize of AUD 50,000 (USD 35,000) and a solo exhibition, which is currently showing through to November. Amid all of this, Nithiyendran spoke to ArtAsiaPacific about the transformative power of clay, and how, by using the medium, he distorts and yokes Hindu mythology with contemporary narratives of sexuality to create multiple cross-cultural dialogues.   

• Australia
• Sri Lanka