Suchitra Mattai: Bodies and Souls

Suchitra Mattai: Bodies and Souls represents Suchitra Mattai’s (Guyanese, b. 1973) first solo Museum exhibition on the East Coast and in Florida. Compromised largely of new works, the show focuses on three themes central to Mattai’s practice: migration, motherland, and materiality. Within these themes, Mattai explores her own family’s history and identity, as well as the narratives of Guyana’s Indo-Caribbean community. Mattai’s work references historical moments, such as the migration of indentured laborers from India to the shores of Guyana, and also examines the physical and emotional relationship to home and motherland. Mattai creates artworks that flip traditional mythologies by placing South Asian women and Brown bodies as the central figures in her vibrant compositions. These unique histories – from surveying Guyana’s colonial past to shared Indian traditions against the lush backdrop of the Caribbean, and the familial bonds between matriarchs, mothers, and daughters – anchor Mattai’s art. She uses materials familiar to her – such as vintage saris, bindis and beading, and Hindu relics- to reclaim history and give prominence to voices silenced or ignored throughout time.

Born in Georgetown, Guyana, Mattai has lived across continents yet retains close ties to the South Asian communities in the Caribbean and the US. The artist earned her MFA in painting and drawing as well as an MA in South Asian art from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Over the last five years, her work has shifted from painting to sculptural textile installations. In addition to Suchitra Mattai: Bodies and Souls at the Tampa Museum of Art, in 2024, Mattai’s art is the focus of solo exhibitions at the ICA San Francisco; Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, New York; and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. She has been featured in group shows at the MCA Chicago, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, the MCA Denver, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Mattai lives and works in Los Angeles, California.