Annu Yadav is a California-based painter, sculptor, and textile artist. Growing up in India, she was surrounded by a deeply layered culture that has inspired her art today, through its vibrant visual aesthetics, and its complex socio-political environment. Her paintings and wearable sculptures explore the feminine–from the suppression of female voices and oppressive social structures to the resulting inner strength and endurance that is needed to navigate a patriarchal world.

The work featured in this exhibition dials into the perennial tension of gender polarities, examining its imprints on the feminine. Set in the landscape of domestic life, space is used as a material–the third character in the complex interplay of conflict and passion between the feminine and masculine. In its construction and its ornamentation, space accentuates key interactions between these two forces, becoming witness and actor in victories and defeats. Through arrangement, space invites the viewer to actively engage with the scene, determining the closeness of their voyeuristic eye.

In confinement or expulsion, the supple allure of the feminine emerges as an infinite source of strength. Yadav skillfully captures the eruptive energy that manifests within the confines of constraint, transforming the genteel feminine form into unexpected convulsive figures.