2026 MFA THESIS EXHIBITION
kodandi nithyananda

JANUARY 16 - FEBRUARY 28, 2026

I use reclaimed materials, and technology that is old, discarded, and obsolete. I see the unsustainable obsolescence of functional older technologies, and prioritize reclaimed, recycled, and secondhand sources. Accessing data from obsolete software and connecting old hardware to new hardware is an extreme exercise in impermanence, fleeting physical states, and letting go. I am interested in the process of moving through dimensions, from point to line to twodimensional shape and three-dimensional shape and beyond. Unraveling, or “frogging” in knitting terminology, is a fundamental part of the knitting process. A knitted piece can be completely frogged and returned to its original form in a ball of yarn. The yarn will be changed in the process, but it is still in essence a ball of yarn. The journey of the yarn from line through a two-dimensional pattern to three-dimensional constructed piece that exists in a four-dimensional space is exciting for me. I feel that this is a spiritual process that reflects my experience in meditation and Hindu ritual. Knitted fabric feels like a nexus between body and landscape. I use garment making techniques to make sculptural objects. Knitting is a representation of my body as well as landscape. I am now working with my own medical imagery and biofeedback data. Digital technology has made it very easy to access these secret inner worlds of the body and make them visible. This data is now feeding my digital art and determines the speed and layout of my animations.

Kodandi Nithyananda is a multi-dimensional, multi-media artist whose work touches themes of the body as ephemera, esoteric landscape, and spatial interiority. The artist’s work comes from a meditative space and is informed by life in an ashram and time spent as a monk. 

The artist studied traditional material forms of sculpture at California College of the Arts, focusing on metalworking, welding, and bronze casting. Kodandi now works primarily in digital media and machine knitting. The artist received their MFA in Visual Arts from Maharishi International University. The artist also holds a BA from Mills College, in anthropology and sociology, and cross-cultural communication study at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in Tokyo, Japan.