The Vessel With Two Mouths

One of the country’s leading multimedia artists is making her Vancouver debut with a brand-new body of work. Sprung from the imagination of Rajni Perera after a month-long residency in her home country of Sri Lanka, this exhibit at the Roundhouse represents her longing for an ancestral home and renegotiates her diasporic relationship with her heritage. 

Embodying the origins of her ancestry and linkages to Sri Lankan cultural and spiritual traditions, The Vessel with Two Mouths investigates her fascination with the unseen. It collapses a linear progression of time, placing Rajni Perera in a position of divine omniscience in relation to her practice that has typically illustrated an imagined future. Here, instead, she looks to the past’s stain upon the present to better understand and establish the canon of the origins of not only her practice, but herself.

This exhibit is curated by Devyani Saltzman. It will run from Thursday, July 6th to Thursday, July 13th 10am-5pm daily. 

List of Works exhibited:

The Dream, 2023
acrylic paint, polymer clay, pearls, cotton thread, charcoal on nylon horse hair. 124 x 262 in.(irregular) 

Our math as old as time, 2023
acrylic paint, glass beads, plastic beads, marbled textile, cotton thread, pearls on nylon horse hair. 120 x 84 in.

Droid Study, 2023
charcoal, pearls on nylon horse hair. 120 x 64 in.

Kevuni’s Curse, 2023
acrylic paint, acrylic gouache on nylon horse hair. 120 x 64 in.

Droid 2, 2023
polymer clay, acrylic paint. 3 x 7 x 3 in.

Droid 3, 2023
polymer clay, incense holder. 5.5 x 3.25 x 3.25 in.

Anklet, 2023
polymer clay, anklet. 3 x 7 x 3 in.

You can also join us for a feature artist talk and reception with Rajni Perera on Friday, July 8th, see details at Rajni Perera: In Conversation with Devyani Saltzman.