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About the Artist
Painter, printmaker and installation artist — New Delhi, rooted in Bihar soil
Shambhavi Singh (b. 1967) is a painter, printmaker and installation artist based in New Delhi. Her practice is predominantly non-figurative — centred on the relationship between humans and nature, and the social and metaphysical conditions of the agricultural worker.
Born in Patna, Bihar, visits to her grandparents in the countryside sparked her lifelong interest in nature. She studied at the College of Fine Arts and Crafts, Patna in the 1980s alongside Subodh Gupta, moved to Delhi in 1990, and earned an MFA from Delhi College of Art.
Despite extensive international travel, she continues to ground her work in her upbringing in Bihar, which nurtured and evolved her creative language. Her experiences abroad strengthened her interest in the relationship between nature and humanity — while travelling she became aware of the history of migration and the plight of migrant labourers.
She grounds her work in Bihar, and travel has sharpened her awareness of migration and migrant labour. "My work is rooted in the soil — a reflection on labour, sustenance, and the fragile relationship between humans and the earth."
Practice
Painting, printmaking, sculpture, video installation and new media. Non-figurative and non-narrative, yet bound to agriculture and rural labour — sustenance, resilience and invisible labour.
Exhibitions
Exhibited across India, South Africa, Australia, New York and the Netherlands, with the Foundation of Indian Artists, Amsterdam. Represented by Talwar Gallery, New York and New Delhi. 1997 Tropenmuseum project in Amsterdam opened the migration inquiry.
Residencies
2000–01 Greatmore Studios Cape Town, Gandhi studies and HSAL at the Castle of Good Hope. 2010 STPI Singapore, works in the MoMA permanent collection, New York. 2020 solo Bhoomi, Gallery Espace New Delhi. 2023 Prussian Blue, KNMA Noida, cur. Dr Arshiya Lokhandwala.