Portals: Mourning Dove, Prismatic, The Gift

Created while in residence at Dieu Donné in 2025. Pigmented cotton base sheet with stenciled linen pulp paint, 20 × 16 inches.

Created in collaboration with Master Collaborator Tatiana Ginsberg, the project consists of three suites—Mourning Dove, The Gift, and Prismatic. The series draws on hand-papermaking techniques such as washes and stenciling, brought to life through Ganesh’s bold and symbolic iconography.

“A mourning dove perched on a floating tree, a levitating rose with an open eye at its center, a disembodied hand crossing the skies on a cloud, holding a prism: these are instances of my iconography, rooted in surrealism and myth.

This series allowed me to experiment through the generative materiality of paper. I explored the capacious shapeshifting medium with colorful spray washes, watercolor-like brush strokes, stencils, ink droplets, and sharp lines typically achieved in relief and silkscreen. Combined, these elements catalyzed a process both playful and surprising, resonating with the imagery’s dreamlike transformations to provide the viewer with multiple points of entry and open-ended narratives of contemplation and wonder.” Chitra Ganesh