## Chitra Ganesh’s “Tiger in the Looking Glass”: A Feminist-Futurist Vision that Bends Time and Space

### Introduction to Ganesh’s Art & Gallery Exhibition

*Hot pink paint,* reminiscent of a vivid bougainvillea vine, drenched with notes of femininity and power, daubs the backdrop of Chitra Ganesh’s latest solo show at *Gallery Wendi Norris* in San Francisco. The chosen color isn’t just striking; rather, it’s a hue with historical and cultural undercurrents that blend seamlessly into the artist’s latest works. This “shapeshifting” pink color is symbolic, linking modern feminist discourses with deeper, more hidden histories.

Ganesh’s artwork, particularly her recent exhibition *Tiger in the Looking Glass* (2024), fosters a conversation around identity, activism, and the fluid nature of power dynamics, femininity, and time. Her deeply woven, thematically layered pieces reflect an ongoing journey that spans mythology, science fiction, feminist theory, pop-culture, and protest movements. Over the past two decades, Ganesh’s multiverse of multimedia work has cultivated a fervent global following, owing largely to its refusal to slot into a single genre, and her potent visual lexicon brimming with exciting iconography and cultural references.

### About the Exhibit: Femmes, Surrealism, and Symbolic Layering

In *Tiger in the Looking Glass*—her fifth solo display with Gallery Wendi Norris—Chitra Ganesh presents 12 mixed-media paintings on paper that hover between dreamlike realms and jungly outdoor landscapes. The exhibition follows the form of the Barahmasa, a traditional style of painting that captures one’s perception of natural and seasonal cycles, with each painting representing the unique nuances of a given month in a singular artistic composition. Within these pieces, mystical femmes emerge from Jungian dream-like settings, creating a fluid rhythmic movement throughout the works.

In one notable painting from the series, the central figure rides sidesaddle atop a massive pigeon, echoing old-world surrealism but with vividly modern tones of liberation. Another work titled *Tiger in the Looking Glass* provides an eerie yet velvety depiction—where a mystical tiger’s head materializes in a mirrored reflection as a flowered tendril snakes over the femme figure’s body. These diverse figures are resilient yet soft, poised yet suspended, embodying a multiplicity of identities caught between worlds of imagination and harsh reality.

### Blending Mediums for Storytelling

Ganesh’s mastery over different media gives her works more than just a surface-level depth. In this exhibition, her use of traditional painting tools such as watercolor, gouache, and acrylic merges with non-conventional materials like sparkling vintage jewelry, synthetic hair pieces, and fragments of mirrors—secrets embedded in the artworks to reveal themselves upon the viewer’s close inspection. The viewer is encouraged to scan for these seemingly small additions, which play pivotal roles in deepening the symbolism—and even activism—within each piece.

The materials themselves evoke responses from both the present and the past. For instance, in *Moonscape* (2024), a seemingly ethereal image gains weight through the insertion of shimmering glass shards in a speech bubble, invoking powerful and layered meanings regarding voice, presence, and the nature of communication itself.

### Moving Beyond the Binary: A Political Subtext

One critical subtext of Ganesh’s most recent work is the ongoing global conversation around identity fluidity versus rigid binaries. While the artworks stand as celebrations of femme identities across realities, they also shed light on present-day struggles faced by women and queer individuals. The fight to transcend dichotomous labeling and classification—both in the U.S. where political lines are often defined as binary and globally, where rights over gender and bodies continue to be debated—is evident in every sweeping composition Ganesh creates.

In one compelling gallery talk, Ganesh underscored the importance of pushing boundaries and encouraging societies around the world to embrace this “*multiplicity.”* Her harrowing, vibrant femmes emulate transformation, simultaneously rendering bodies visible across planes of existence. Layered throughout these works are intricate references not only to mythology but to global social movements and political ideologies that speak of change, inclusivity, and the resistance of oppressive constructs, reflecting her continued commitment to activism.

### A Portal to Infinite Multiverses: A Closer Look at Ganesh’s World

If you think of paintings as doors to another world, Ganesh’s art thrusts us headfirst into dimensions that feel at once fantastical and