Tandel works with Habur stone in the Ancestors series (2026), a fossiliferous material from Jaisalmer that was once an ancient seabed, to cast oil pipes and marine life-forms in cooling, mottled rock — drawing a sharp poetics between petro-capitalist extraction and the Koli community's embattled relationship with the coastline. The stone becomes a monument to an erased ocean, connecting the geological history of the Rajasthani desert with the ecological memory of Mumbai's shores.

The project shows how the 1985-90 blue revolution tied coastal labours to fossil fuels, transforming seas into arenas of subsidies, industrial extraction, and ecological conflict rooted in ancient solar energy."

This work is part of a series of works developed for his recently concluded solo at TARQ “Khaari Gaaboli | Salted Caviar”. His works were part of TARQ’s presentation at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 “Anthems of Archipelago: We are King of Ocean”, in the Encounters Sector.