Manasa Thimmiya Appaneravanda
Performance Artist
Born and brought up in India, Manasa Thimmiya Appaneravanda is a San Francisco based visual artist; painting, video/film and performance. After being a graphic designer for years, she found her true calling as a social practice artist. Community is at the heart of her art.
Manasa began her artistic journey to cope with her ongoing struggle with mental health. This lead her to find the root of the issue based in her surroundings- the push and pull between nature versus nurture. She has been exploring the 'divine feminine' through challenging age old issues of being a woman. The viewer is also an integral part of many of her projects as she works interactively. Through movement, gesture and elements from her childhood she gently forces discussions on subjects that are usually hushed. Her work evokes emotion, thought and reaction by creating a safe space to feel. In 2023, she created ‘Melt’, The Backyard Plague, San Francisco. In 2024, ‘Summer Festival’, Glasshouse, New York : Performance; ‘I’m Fucking Tired’, The Backyard Plague, San Francisco; Metal Haus Gallery, ‘EVOKE’. San Francisco; The Creative Arts Club, (Virtual) ‘Surreal Landscapes’ ; TBG Gallery ‘Random Affects’, New York.
UYYALA
Title Translation from Telugu: Swing
I look through the several intricacies of labour and care through the lens of a mother. I also acknowledge the systematic oppression that we must not ignore anymore. The makeshift swing, made from a saree- an image deeply rooted in my memory, reminds me of the labourers in India. Mothers provide ‘comfort’ to their children while working and living in mostly harsh and unsafe conditions. These swings are suspended from whatever is available, be it a tree or an unfinished structure.I walk around with bare feet, with a black dot or as we call it the 'dishti chukka ' on the underside of my feet, this is symbolic of the tradition of warding off evil eye,In this piece, I suspend a saree and lay in it. My eyes remain shut, like a baby asleep. The swing becomes a symbol of the womb, within, it is quiet and secure. In this cocoon, I rest, I hear, feel and see unlike before. Sometimes feeling like the child, sometimes feeling like the mother. Viewers are invited to interact with me as they please, allowing them to come close, witness and become part of the piece. The intention is not to be another documentation of the destitute but to hold our mothers back with gratitude.
GATTIGA
Title translation from Telugu: to firmly hold or to strongly advice
I explore the 'feminine' and all her workings through gesture. I work with the experience of shared trauma and breaking down what it means to be a womxn of color, a womxn that is alien in this country and a womxn with mental disability. The repetitive stroking and tying of hair represents the expectations and standards that womxn have had to live up to over centuries, while the shaking of the head is representative of breaking patterns. This piece is love and anger at the same time. It is also acceptance. Through this piece I pay tribute to "the mother", "gattiga."
