Working across video, performance and sculpture in Sydney (on Gadigal Land), artist Monica Rani Rudhar creates delicately personal works that explore longing, loss and the complexities of multi-racial identity. Born to Indian and Romanian migrant parents, her practice forms a restorative autobiographical archive, seeking permanence for fragmented family histories. Rooted in ritual and memory, her sculptural works often draw on South East Asian jewellery as a conduit to lost heritage.
A rising talent in Australian contemporary art, Rudhar has exhibited at leading institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chau Chak Wing Museum and Carriageworks. Now, Rudhar is bringing her work to our shores, exhibiting pieces at Aotearoa Art Fair with Foenander Galleries. We spoke with Rudhar ahead of the Art Fair’s opening to find out more about her creative process and what inspires her immersive works, read on for our full conversation.
In conversation with Monica Rani Rudhar
Your work is deeply rooted in personal history and cultural disconnection. What first drew you to art as a way to express your identity?
It was during Covid that I started to reflect on my connection with family and culture. To be honest with you, in my younger years I made every effort to reject my ‘Indianness’, and wanted to blend in with my Anglo-Australian friends. It was during lockdown when I started to think about the importance of my family, heritage and legacy of my ancestors. I realised that I was carrying a lot of grief around never really feeling connected to either sides of my family, due to being so far away from my cousins and extended family, past family tensions, and never meeting my grandparents. I started to make work that helped me process this grief. Through conversations with my parents and extended family, I started to rebuild my own archive focusing on the things that connected me, including rituals, family stories, foods, heirlooms and textiles.
Could you tell us about the piece you’re presenting at Föenander Galleries during the Aotearoa Art Fair?
The piece I am presenting, ‘Earrings That My Aunty Gave To Me’ were the first Indian Earrings that were given to me as a baby. It is a very special work as it is based on the most sentimental pair of earrings I own. This gift forms part of a significant ritual where baby girls get their ears pierced and are given a gold hoop that symbolizes a welcome into the Indian family and community. They resemble familial love and I still wear them now.
What do you hope people feel or take away when encountering your work for the first time?
I think people are quite taken back by the scale of my work. Photos of my work do not do them any justice, and should definitely be seen in person. For me, the works have a reverence about them, as they play homage to my lineage and the people who have formed it. I hope that people are able to feel a connection to their own jewellery collection, especially to familial heirlooms and the stories that these important objects hold. For many cultures, heirlooms have a strong link that unites us with our ancestors and carries the very stories we seek to preserve.
Do you have a go-to ritual or activity that helps you recharge and stay centred?
I really enjoy practising Yin Yoga, and stretching. I am often holding very awkward positions as I make, and get really tight muscles in my shoulders and arms if I don’t stretch – and it really helps me re-centre. Studio time often means a lot of solo time, and for someone who is quite social, I really do feel recharged when I am having friends over for dinner.
How would you describe your personal style, and what influences it the most? Are there any New Zealand designers you gravitate to?
Gosh that’s a hard one, I think I have a mix of influences for my personal style and usually varies from the studio to what I would wear to an opening. I have a pair of Shitake coloured glitter platform crocs that I absolutely adore. I love texture and bold colours, and am usually influenced by a mix of ‘70s, and ‘90s. I love adding a little bling to my outfits, flowing skirts and pants and halter necks to turtle necks. I am collaborating on a little jewellery item with Jasmin Sparrow for the fair so keep your eyes peeled!
Who or what inspires you creatively at the moment?
At the moment I am very much inspired by Indian accessories other than earrings including bangles, and hair ornamentation. I am really interested in hair, and the power of the braid in South Asian culture that has been used as a symbol of beauty. As someone who wasn’t allowed to have their hair cut as a child, I was defined by my single long braid. I’m excited to look into the cross cultural connections of the braid and what it brings up for me on my Romanian side.
What’s next for you after the fair – any new directions or projects we can look forward to?
I have a solo show with my gallery in Sydney, Martin Browne Contemporary at the end of June and have a few shows and art fairs that I will be working towards. I will be showing Kerala, India in the next few months and have also been working on my first ever public artwork with Vital Commons in Sydney. For this I will be developing a significant brass work, which will be my most ambitious work to date. The project is due to be delivered by early next year in Sydney, Australia.
