The monumental sculptural installation Efflorescence/The Way We Wake by Rajni Perera and Marigold Santos is a powerful expression of what can be achieved when two artists with their own separate practices engage in deep collaboration. Perera’s paintings, installations, sculptures, photography, textiles and drawings meld fantasy and science fiction with folklore, material culture and the spiritual practices of Sri Lanka, her country of birth. Born in the Philippines, Santos has developed an interdisciplinary practice that spans painting, drawing, sculpture, tattoo, poetry and sound, and that examines selfhood and the mutability of identity informed by migration.
Efflorescence/The Way We Wake features a sculpture of a powerful female humanoid whose eyes gaze purposefully through a richly ornamented mask. Her detached legs are splayed out behind her in an impossible position, while she props herself up with her arms, assisted by elongated breasts. On and around her are islands of flourishing botanicals. Fashioned from polymer clay, styrofoam, metallic powder, synthetic hair, pearls and floral foam, this being sits in an archipelago of fantastical plant life and rock formations, offering multiple pathways and points of view to contemplate her majesty.
—Cheryl Sim
