Iffa Jayyana
In the vibrant, otherworldly ecosystem of the Baton Rouge Gallery’s annual Surreal Salon, art is rarely a static experience. It is a collision of performance, costume, and the avant-garde, serving as a defiant, artistic prelude to the city’s Mardi Gras festivities. This year, the stakes were elevated by the presence of guest juror Caledonia Curry—widely known as the visionary street artist Swoon—whose own career has been defined by a commitment to public intervention and the blurring of lines between the sacred and the mundane.
Amidst this year’s highly competitive field, the top honor of "Best in Show" was awarded to multidisciplinary artist River Reishi for her haunting, immersive installation, Surface Tension. Through an intricate play of light, loose-grain sand, and sculptural form, Reishi captured a moment of liminality that resonated deeply with both the jurors and the attendees.
The Anatomy of a Winning Vision: Surface Tension
At the heart of Surface Tension lies a narrative of transition. The sculpture features a feminine figure emerging from dark water, her hands reaching forward as if preparing to pierce the membrane between two realities. Submerged from the waist down, the figure occupies a space of profound tension. Surrounding her is a delicate, meticulously hand-drawn field of black sand and amber, which creates an ephemeral landscape that is as volatile as it is beautiful.
"From land, the surface of water looks smooth and transparent, almost empty," Reishi explains. "But of course, it hides an entire world that is not ours. I have always been fascinated by that threshold. The installation tries to hold that exact moment where the two worlds meet."
The piece contains a subtle, internal luminescence—a faint glow that rewards the patient viewer who approaches closely. For Reishi, this light represents a "quiet surprise," a flicker of life within a seemingly still object. The artist draws a clear connection between her work and the geography of the Gulf region, where water is simultaneously a life-giving force and an ever-present source of danger and power.
Chronology of a Creative Breakthrough
Reishi’s journey to the Surreal Salon stage is one defined by persistence and a deepening relationship with her chosen materials. While she has followed the pop-surrealist circuit for years, this was the first time her professional trajectory coincided with a local residency that allowed her to attend the exhibition in person.
The experience of the salon was, by all accounts, transformative. Upon arriving to install Surface Tension, Reishi found herself surrounded by a cohort of artists whose works possessed a haunting, visceral quality. Being selected by Swoon—an artist Reishi has admired since 2009—was the culmination of a long-held professional aspiration.
The highlight of the event for Reishi was not just the award, but the audience interaction. In a testament to the salon’s unique culture, one attendee arrived wearing a costume specifically inspired by Reishi’s installation. "Getting to watch him model it and explain how the sculpture influenced the design completely made my night," she reflects. "It felt like the work had briefly stepped out of the gallery and into the room."
The Influence of the Juror: The Legacy of Swoon
For Reishi, the opportunity to have her work reviewed by Swoon was particularly meaningful. The two artists share a philosophical lineage that values "unauthorized" creativity—the ability to carve out space in the art world without waiting for institutional gatekeepers to offer permission.
Reishi traces her admiration for Swoon back to the 2009 Venice Biennale, when the street artist famously navigated a fleet of handmade, sculptural rafts through the canals. "That kind of boldness has always stayed with me," says Reishi. "It is difficult to break into the art world, especially in spaces where voice is carefully selected and curated. Seeing an artist carve out space for herself so creatively was incredibly inspiring."
This ethos of self-determination is evident in Reishi’s own process. Her current work, which mirrors some of the myth-building found in Swoon’s Sibylant Sisters project, relies on the creation of symbolic languages. By building her own mythologies, Reishi allows the viewer to enter a world that is governed by the artist’s unique internal logic rather than traditional art-world constraints.
Technical Process: The Aesthetics of Fragility
Reishi’s practice is a direct response to the limitations she has faced throughout her career. When she lacked a permanent, large-scale studio, she developed a methodology based on modularity and ephemerality. She began working with materials that could occupy a space temporarily and then vanish, such as loose sand and non-permanent light installations.
"I am not sure I feel comfortable in any single medium, and I think that is probably a good thing," she notes. "I tend to move toward whatever material feels necessary for the idea at hand."
This embrace of fragility proved to be a defining moment during the Salon itself. When a gallery guest accidentally backed into the platform holding Surface Tension, the sand shifted, erasing the intricate, hand-drawn patterns. Rather than a catastrophe, the moment served as a profound artistic revelation.
"In a strange way, the moment also revealed something essential about the work," Reishi explains. "Some people had assumed the sand had been glued down or painted in place. When it shifted, it suddenly became clear that the entire surface was loose. I sat beside the piece and carefully repaired it, re-drawing the patterns while people watched."
This incident underscored the central theme of her work: the beauty of the temporary. It was a visceral reminder to the audience that they were witnessing a moment in time that could never be perfectly replicated.
Future Horizons: Iceland and Beyond
Looking toward the remainder of the year, Reishi is preparing for a significant international residency. In August, she will work with the Raf Gallery in Reykjavik, Iceland. The timing is deliberate, coinciding with a total solar eclipse on August 12 and the city’s Menningarnótt (Culture Night) festival.
The upcoming exhibition will explore the mythology of Baltic amber, blending it with eclipse narratives and the binary of light and shadow. Reishi intends to use local sand from the Icelandic shoreline, creating a site-specific installation that honors the volcanic landscape of the region.
In keeping with her commitment to the ephemeral, Reishi plans to involve the local community in the de-installation process. "At the end of the exhibition, I invite the community to dismantle the installation with me," she says. "We carry the sand back to the ocean and return it with a wish, prayer, or intention."
Implications: The Power of the "Unpermitted" Voice
The success of Surface Tension at Surreal Salon 18 highlights a shifting tide in contemporary art. As audiences grow increasingly weary of highly polished, commercialized art, there is a renewed hunger for work that is tactile, vulnerable, and deeply human.
Reishi’s work speaks to a larger conversation regarding the "emergence of voice," particularly for female artists who have historically been sidelined. She argues that the act of creating art is, in itself, an act of defiance. "It takes a certain measure of audacity to say something and commit it to art," she asserts. "In a way, you are asking the world to listen."
From the Mayan ceramics that continue to inspire her in Mexico City to the cold, volcanic beaches of Iceland, Reishi’s path is guided by a desire to connect with the ancient while pushing the boundaries of the contemporary. As she continues to evolve, her work serves as a reminder that the most impactful art is often that which refuses to stay fixed—that which, like the tide, exists only to touch the shore before retreating back into the mystery of the deep.
River Reishi is a multidisciplinary artist whose sculptures and ephemeral sand installations explore myth, grief, and the mysterious threshold between worlds. Her work is currently slated for exhibition in Reykjavik this August. To see more of her portfolio, visit riverreishi.com or follow her journey on Instagram @riverreishi.
Nila Kartika Wati
Ammar Sabilarrohman
