Sagarika Sundaram
with Siren, 2023, in
her New York studio.
Photo: Anita Goes
Next Big Thing: Sagarika Sundaram
This emerging creative builds her monumental abstract sculptures, reliefs, and installations from back to front, working intuitively with color and texture until the image reveals itself at the very end
In an age of rapid digitization, Sagarika Sundaram’s devotion to raw, organic materials, ancient felt-making techniques, and a labor-intensive practice is a powerful statement. “I’m interested in the history of textiles and how it is connected to a preindustrial world,” says Sundaram, who grew up in India and Dubai. “You see these shared languages—it is beyond language in a way.”
“Sagarika’s sumptuous works become both opened bodies and vast landscapes to traverse with the eye. She is searching for the ancient connections we all share across time and geography.”
Melanie Kress, senior curator, Public Art Fund
Installation view of Time Slip (2023), at the Al Held Foundation in Boiceville, New York. Photo: Alon Koppel, Courtesy of the artist
Unique process: The artist begins by constructing elaborate models as well as paper and fabric studies. She builds her monumental abstract sculptures, reliefs, and installations from back to front, working intuitively with color and texture until the image reveals itself at the very end. “It is only when the work is felted together that I really sense what it is.”
Up next: Along with a group exhibit at Salon 94 in New York through December 21, Sundaram has a solo presentation at the UBS Lounge at Art Basel in Miami Beach, and solo shows at Nature Morte in India and London’s Alison Jacques.
Installation view of Passage Along the Edge of Earth, 2022, at the Moody Center of the Arts at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Photo: Sean Fleming, Courtesy of the artist
Installation view of Source, 2023, at Palo Gallery in New York. Photo: Daniel Greer, Courtesy of the artist
Installation view of Atlas, 2023, at Palo Gallery in New York. Photo: Kunning Huang, courtesy of the artist
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Winter Issue under the headline “Next Big Things.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Cover: Sagarika Sundaram
with Siren, 2023, in
her New York studio.
Photo: Anita Goes
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