Rangoli Mirrored Cosmos
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Visit websiteBy MURUGIAH
Greenwich Peninsula collaborated with graphic artist MURUGIAH as part of London Design Festival 2023 in celebration of Diwali, the festival of light. This vibrant immersive artwork is inspired by the traditional Rangoli artform. The piece connects the Peninsula’s growing communities and is part of one of the largest collections of free public artwork collections in London.
Artist MURUGIAH seeks to continue his creative mission to explore the connections and juxtapositions of his Western Birth and upbringing with his South Asian heritage with: Mirrored Cosmos - a vivid three-dimensional sculpture representing the interconnectivity of existence; a diagram of the cosmos. This larger cosmos reflects ourselves, small universes suspended within an infinite one.
The sculpture is a contemporary interpretation of a Mandala Rangoli. Mandalas are graphic representations of the cosmos; Rangoli are bright, coloured patterns, traditionally painted in the entrance of homes to welcome the Hindu goddess Lakshmi and luck, positivity and happiness to the household. These ideas are fused in Mirrored Cosmos, by creating a colourful mandala to represent the beauty of the perplexing Universe we inhabit. The mirrored surfaces reflect ourselves - small, confounding, intricate individuals, connected by existence - tiny cosmoses, within a larger one.
“I love living in London, but sometimes it can get a little loud in my head, and I find myself weighed down with the sorrows of the world. I hope people who visit the sculpture can use it as an opportunity to remind themselves that existence is a beautiful, fleeting thing, and can be joyful and filled with colour.”
MURUGIAH is an award-winning artist based in London, U.K. Born and raised in the UK with Sri Lankan heritage, he trained as an architect in London before choosing his current creative path, specialising in illustration, art direction, typography and design. His selected collaborators and commissioners include Apple, Disney, Marvel, Facebook, Penguin, Vans, Wired, Los Angeles Times, and Mondo. And he has been featured by BBC, Creative Boom, Creative Lives in Progress, Digital Arts, and SixtySix.
