Monica Rani Rudhar | City of Parramatta

Rudhar's work speaks to longing and loss as she navigates cultural disconnection.

About Monica Rani Rudhar (she/her)

Monica Rani Rudhar is an artist working on Gadigal Land across video, performance and sculpture. Born to Indian and Romanian migrant parents, her work speaks to longing and loss as she navigates the cultural disconnection that stems from the complexities of her multi-racial ethnicity. Her work is delicately personal and takes the shape of a restorative autobiographical archive that seeks to record her own histories where these stories can exist permanently, unlike those that have been passed down orally from her family which remain fragmented.

Her practice attempts to restore familial histories, traditions and rituals that have been dispersed by migration and draws on the labor required to move past the barriers that stand in the way of reforging these connections.

Image of Monica — Monica Rani Rudhar. Photo: Anna Kučera.

Biography

Monica graduated from UNSW Art and Design (Honours) in 2021, and has exhibited extensively in NSW including Pompom Galarie, Verge Gallery, Pari, Firstdraft, Tiles Lewisham and has performed at Carriageworks as part of Vivid Sydney 2022. She has been commissioned by Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and Powerhouse Museum and was the recent winner of the 2023 Gosford Emerging Art Prize. She has recently had her first commercial solo show at with Martin Browne Contemporary.

Recent works

Monica Rani Rudhar, ‘I Cook a Lot of All These Foods’, 2022. Photo: Anthony Hodgkinson.

Monica Rani Rudhar, ‘Hoops That Once Belonged To My Mother’, 2022. Photo: Document Photography

Monica Rani Rudhar, ‘Monica She Called Out To Me’, 2023.

Monica Rani Rudhar, ‘Mother of Millions’, 2020. Photo: Olga Svyatova.

Monica Rani Rudhar, ‘Mother Of Millions On Whitford Road’, 2022. Photo: Alex Davies.

“Her work is delicately personal and takes the shape of a restorative autobiographical archive”