Roy K John turns Kerala's gardens into spaces of memory and imagination

Kerala-based artist Roy K John is bringing the lush landscapes of his home state into a new visual conversation , using gardens, orchards and botanical forms to explore memory, perception and transformation. His latest body of work, featuring paintings and three-dimensional wooden sculptures, will go on display in New Delhi from September 6.

Curated by Satyajit Dave, the exhibition draws from the Kerala tradition of Kani, the auspicious first sight of beauty, abundance and hope at dawn. John reinterprets the idea through contemporary landscapes where vegetation takes on an almost architectural presence. Tree trunks become columns, leaves turn into structural screens, and dense foliage alternately reveals and conceals fragments of domestic life and memory.

Where tradition meets contemporary artJohn’s visual language is informed by his training in traditional Kerala mural painting. Born in 1977, he studied at the Kalabhavan School of Arts , Thrissur, and later completed a master’s in traditional mural painting from the Temple of Arts, Guruvayoor. His practice brings elements of classical mural iconography and technique into contemporary explorations of Kerala’s natural environment.

The exhibition also features John’s recent wooden leaf sculptures, extending his interest in botanical forms beyond the canvas. The tactile works look at both the abundance and fragility of natural ecosystems, giving familiar elements of the landscape a new physical presence.

“In Roy K John’s garden, the first sight is never simply what is before the eyes. It is what the eye learns to notice,” says the exhibition note.

Curator Satyajit Dave, a researcher and former Assistant Professor at NIFT Gandhinagar, works across art, design, craft and Indigenous Knowledge Systems.

The exhibition opens on September 6 at 6.30 pm and will be on view until September 10, from 11 am to 7 pm, at the Main Art Gallery, Bikaner House, Pandara Road, New Delhi.