Selected Works

Aicon is pleased to announce Beneath the Surface, the second solo exhibition of Mumbai-based abstractionist Sheetal Gattani in our New York gallery. Following her 2019 debut Unmaking Space, this exhibition marks a significant evolution in Gattani’s practice that expands her exploration of abstract space to include a dynamic three-dimensionality, introducing works that break free from the flat plane and emerge in layered segments.

Known for her meticulous layering and the use of texture as a means of narrative, Gattani’s works invite the viewer to engage deeply with the material and time-manifested processes at play. Her process is both meditative and methodical: layer after layer of acrylic paint is applied to an unstretched canvas. For Gattani, “Painting is a process of mapping tangles of thoughts into a silence—a way of centering oneself through experience.”

Beneath the Surface also features Untitled (Lines of Continuity) and Untitled (Blended Frames), two striking series of drawings that extend Sheetal Gattani’s innovative approach to surface excavation. These works are created through a meticulous process of addition and subtraction: lines and forms emerge through the application of dry pastel and charcoal, as well as the careful removal of material from the paper’s surface. The drawings maintain a meditative stillness reminiscent of Gattani’s earlier works on paper while pushing forth her inquiry into form and space. Her consistent exploration of the square format provides a structured foundation, allowing the interplay of lines and voids to guide the viewer’s gaze across the composition. These subtle yet dynamic drawings serve as a counterpoint to her multilayered canvases, demonstrating the artist’s quest to balance precision with spontaneity and containment with expansiveness.

The latest works in Beneath the Surface combine Gattani’s meditative approach with a more sculptural visibility. In works like Untitled (Light Unfolding), Gattani introduces mounted segments, each positioned at varying depths, which transform the canvas from a two-dimensional surface into a spatial experience. These elements allow the viewer to move around the artwork, witnessing its shifting interplay of light, shadow, and form. The layered canvases no longer exist solely in the realm of the flat; they now take on an immersive presence that invites physical engagement. Gattani’s new planar approach evokes a heightened sense of materiality, inviting the viewer to reconsider the boundaries of the canvas and the potential of abstraction as a form of exploration and expression. This shift from flatness to dimension speaks to Gattani’s evolving pursuit of finding meaning in the space between, in the tension between surface and depth, and in the quiet persistence of memory and time.

For more information and sales inquries, email Hannah at hannah@aicongallery.com.