A Line in the Earth brings together the practices of Pradeep Thalawatta and Hasseena Suresh, two artists whose works are grounded in the poetics of place, memory, and material. Though shaped by distinct geographies of post-war Sri Lanka and the agrarian landscapes of Kerala, their practices converge in their engagement with the emotional and political afterlives of history, and are reconstituted through time.
The line, at once literal and metaphorical, is a seam that binds and divides, a gesture of drawing and of cutting. It is an image of borders and boundaries, but also of connection, cultivation, and renewal. In the context of this exhibition, the title evokes not only the physical earth, soil, clay, dust but also the deeper strata of human experience that are embedded within it: the residues of conflict, the cycles of labour, the persistence of memory, and the slow but certain work of healing.
Pradeep Thalawatta’s multidisciplinary artworks navigate the unresolved complexities of post-conflict Sri Lanka with subtle intensity. Working across photography, drawing, performance, and installation, he blurs the lines between witnessing and forgetting, public history and private loss. His works trace the contours of a landscape marked by war, urban spaces scarred and reshaped by violence, where the remnants of conflict are not always visible, but acutely felt. Through his lens and mark-making, Thalawatta captures a disquieting stillness, a quietude charged with the echoes of what once was and what remains unsaid.
In a language rooted in earth, Hasseena Suresh sculpts with clay not only as material, but as metaphor. Her forms emerge from a long-standing relationship with land and its textures, histories, and cycles that is cultivated through years of working within a self-sustained ecosystem she has built around her studio practice in Kerala. Her work embodies a feminist ethic of care, protest, and reimagination. Drawing on ancient histories, architecture, and lived experience, she interrogates entrenched patriarchal systems while gently proposing alternative cosmologies, ones that centre nurture, resilience, and embodied knowledge. Her sculptures, simultaneously delicate and defiant, speak of women’s labour, survival, and the capacity of clay to hold both memory and resistance.
This is not an exhibition that seeks to illustrate a single narrative. Rather, it opens a field of tensions: between fissure and repair, absence and presence, mourning and making. The earth itself is a central protagonist here. It holds the weight of our footsteps, absorbs our losses, receives our labours, and returns to us, sometimes transformed with the traces of our being. It is both archive and witness, medium and subject. In Thalawatta’s work, it is the terrain on which violence has unfolded, quietly registering its aftermath. In Suresh’s, it is the generative ground of making, a source of resilience that insists on life even in the face of erosion. Both artists remind us that the earth does not forget, but neither does it remain static; it shifts, cracks and regenerates.
To draw a line in the earth is an act of intention. It may be to claim, to divide, to protect, to cultivate. It is a gesture that acknowledges the ground beneath us as living, mutable, and deeply implicated in our collective histories. In this exhibition, that gesture becomes a shared language between two distinct practices, a language that neither erases difference nor seeks easy resolution, but instead holds space for complexity, contradiction, and care.
A Line in the Earth invites viewers to slow down, to inhabit the space between looking and knowing, to feel the textures of both clay and dust, to trace the contours of scars and furrows alike. It offers no simple answers, but instead extends an invitation: to stand at the doorstep the line creates, to listen to what the earth remembers, and to imagine, with quiet courage, what it might mean to begin again.
Artists
Hasseena Suresh
Hasseena Suresh (b. 1968) is a contemporary Indian artist known for her evocative sculptural practice rooted in clay and stoneware. Her work interrogates the persistence of patriarchal structures in India and globally, drawing from her lived experience growing up in a liberally minded middle-class Muslim family and observing the dissonance between her ideals and the social realities of women’s lives. Through her sculptures, Suresh explores themes of gender-based struggles, feminist narratives, and the complex intersections of personal memory and collective history. Her practice is deeply informed by her interest in ancient history, architecture, climate change, and gardening. She interweaves these influences into her process, creating a body of work that reflects the condition of women across time and geography while embracing experimentation and socio-political engagement. Suresh primarily works with high-fire glazed stoneware, producing sculptures that merge research, storytelling, and a commitment to sustainable material practices. Her work is closely intertwined with the ethos of her studio, Clayfingers Pottery, housed in a repurposed century-old tile factory. The studio also functions as a pedagogical and ecological space, surrounded by a thriving food forest cultivated over a decade, embodying her dedication to sustainability and community engagement.
Pradeep Thalawatta
Pradeep Thalawatta (b. 1979, Colombo, Sri Lanka) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans photography, drawing, video, performance, installation, and painting. His work engages deeply with the socio-political realities of post-conflict Sri Lanka, interrogating themes of memory, trauma, and transformation within the shifting urban landscape. Through an expansive use of materials and mediums, Thalwatta constructs layered narratives that reflect the tensions between history, place, and identity. Thalawatta studied at the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts as a studio-based artist before completing his design training at the National Design Centre, Sri Lanka. He holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan.
Exhibition Details
Preview: 23rd August 2025
Timing: 6:00 pm onwards
Venue: LATITUDE 28, F-208, First Floor, Lado Sarai, New Delhi, 110030
Exhibition Open till: 20th September 2025
Timings: Monday to Saturday, 11 AM – 7 PM
About the Gallery
Established in 2010, LATITUDE 28 has redefined contemporary gallery practice with its lateral, avant-garde approach. The gallery stands as a vanguard in nurturing and showcasing emerging South Asian artists by championing experimental material-based practices while fostering meaningful connections among stakeholders -artists, collectors, patrons, arts professionals, and enthusiasts. By prioritising mentoring and capacity building, it shapes creative practices, through programs that drive cultural discourse across the region and beyond.
The gallery’s commitment to inclusivity and accessibility makes it a critical nexus for cultural exchange, connecting artists with leading institutions worldwide. Through curated exhibitions that weave together art, history, and socio-political narratives, LATITUDE 28 facilitates an understanding of the forces shaping contemporary society. This approach ensures that each exhibition is a dynamic, immersive experience that engages and challenges audiences. As an incubator of innovative artistic expressions, the gallery facilitates dynamic exchanges through site-specific artworks, artist talks, and immersive curatorial experiences, setting new standards for what galleries can achieve. Its influence in shaping artistic discourse and inspiring collections is felt across continents, making LATITUDE 28 an essential player in global cultural conversations. Under the strategic leadership of Founder and Director Bhavna Kakar—also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of TAKE on Art, South Asia’s premier contemporary art publication—LATITUDE 28 has cultivated a robust network of collectors and patrons. This network extends deeply into the Global artistic ecosystems, bridging continental divides and enhancing cross-cultural dialogues.
Featuring Image Courtesy: Latituse 28
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