For COLLABORATIONS 2016, Thomas Erben Gallery, New York and Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai would like to present a new body of work by Yamini Nayar (b. 1975, Rochester, NY). Nayar is an American artist of Indian descent who uses found objects, scraps from her studio, and raw industrial materials to construct elaborate models at tabletop size, which she then photographs. The model itself is discarded and the photograph is all that remains.

Often working from source images that may be architectural, historical or journalistic, Nayar creates her sculptural objects over an extended period of time, photographing during the entire process. She lets each model go through numerous changes, adding and subtracting, building and destroying, until she finally choses one image, which sometimes may represent the end point of this procedure and sometimes a state “in between.”

In recent years, Nayar’s work has developed from describing scenes easily recognizable as rooms – almost resembling doll houses – into more abstracted and complex spaces, where perspectives may be confusing, materials difficult to identify, and multiple viewpoints contained in the same image. Though the photographs might seem digitally manipulated, this effect is in fact achieved only through the artist’s careful construction of her model in relation to the camera, using analog medium or large format film.

In her body of work currently in progress, Nayar is exploring ideas of architecture’s role in public space, issues of urban development, and public housing, where vast numbers of people are compressed into very limited areas. These images will represent yet another push into abstraction while still retaining real- world references as entry points into the photographs. As the work progresses, Nayar adds layers of complexity – the examples included are only preliminary sketches of what the final prints will look like.

Time and process are central to Nayar’s photography and we want this to be clearly reflected in our booth presentation. We will combine large framed photographs with unframed but mounted pieces, as well as unmounted prints pinned to the walls, into a considered installation illuminating each aspect of the artist’s process. We will also include supporting source material that will not be for sale, to add further depth.

Though she has received strong critical support, Yamini Nayar has not yet had the chance to show her work to a wider, international audience. Following her inclusion in Imagine Reality, RAY Fotografieprojekte Frankfurt/RheinMain at MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt in 2015, our hope is that a Collaborations presentation will be a wonderful opportunity for the German public to broaden its knowledge of Nayar’s photography.