Lodestar - Will we go down with the ship? Or will the stars guide us to a better future?

The literal, albeit archaic, meaning of "lodestar" is "a star that leads or guides" and it is a term that has been used especially in reference to the North Star. A star that is used to guide the course of a ship, especially the Pole Star. Because Polaris lies nearly in a direct line with the Earth's rotational axis "above" the North Pole—the north celestial pole—Polaris stands almost motionless in the sky, and all the stars of the northern sky appear to rotate around it. Therefore, it makes an excellent fixed point from which to draw measurements for celestial navigation.

With nature playing an important role and an emphasized use of organic shapes and colours, Rithika Merchant’s works explore myths across geography. She creates mosaics of myths that question received histories that are available to us throughout culture. Her paintings are made using a combination of watercolour, gouache, ink and collage elements, drawing on 17th-century botanical drawings and folk art, to create a body of work that is visually linked to our collective pasts.