There are elements of autobiography held in these pieces. In her copper-wire works, like m/eighteen, and m/sixteen(both 2023), around twenty thin layers of white gesso are inlaid with wire lengths, overpainted with another fifteen or so coats and then sanded back. The effect is mesmerising and mediative. The metal, like a fine thread, at times rises to the surface of the panel and then sinks into the pristine white solid. This matching of materials relates to Meppayil’s encounters with India’s historic cave frescos, like those at the Ajanta and Sittanavasal, and her childhood spent among the supplies of her family’s goldsmith shop in Bangalore.

Her studio remains in the city’s metalworking district among the intensive activities of this industry. The area is a plentiful resource for Meppayil. Here, the tools and traditions associated with the trade are encountered as are the sounds of tapping metal. ‘I come to things via found objects’, she explains. ‘It’s what happens to these things when you transform them and intervene in small ways, which is interesting to me’.

m/fifteen(2023), is a result of this inquisitive spirit. Small wooden blocks, used by goldsmiths as molds to form circular shapes, are covered in gesso and arranged on a wooden panel to form an expansive and rhythmic grid. Meppayil’s skill is in both obscuring the object’s utility and yet humanising the traditions of Minimalism; each block would have formerly been used by an artisan and held in their hands. Similarly, the use of a thinnam, a device to stamp patterns on metal, which is gently pressed into layers of white gesso similarly embodies traditions of craftsmanship while maintaining a counterintuitively pared back and sparse aesthetic.

Processes of making have, as Meppayil says, ‘led to my language’. Throughout her practice, she has maintained a degree of deference to her materials. Meppayil is a purist; the gesso she uses is self-made from chalk, lime and glue. The lengths of metal are treated with absolute diligence, heated with such precision as not to melt them but render them tensile enough to stretch. The jade-looking polishing stones in m/twenty one(2024) are left in their original state. And while she does alter some items, ultimately, their material qualities dictate her final forms. They can be reactive and respond to the surrounding atmospheric conditions. Copper oxidises, stone lightens. That is to say, for Meppayil, the objects have their own processes that are ongoing, even once the work is hung