Important Notice

Shambhavi Singh’s works, although dream-like, depict emotions quite contrary to their appearance. Raising questions about hope and re-birth, and at the same time, recognising the fears of the unknown, Singh’s oeuvre provides an introspective journey for the viewer.

Singh's recent series of epic canvases, titled Ghatak, links the microcosmic and macrocosmic – in an effort to open viewers to the propositions that might flow from...
Shambhavi Singh’s works, although dream-like, depict emotions quite contrary to their appearance. Raising questions about hope and re-birth, and at the same time, recognising the fears of the unknown, Singh’s oeuvre provides an introspective journey for the viewer.

Singh's recent series of epic canvases, titled Ghatak, links the microcosmic and macrocosmic – in an effort to open viewers to the propositions that might flow from such connections. The artist cites both the 15th century mystic Kabir and a scene from Satyajit Ray’s film, 'Pather Panchali', as her inspirations for the series. In a poem that explores the fundamental components of a 'ghatak' or pot – clay and space – to explore the gamut of human experience. We, of course, are the original clay vessels.The scene from Pather Panchali takes us to a related area: an eye appears, blinking in the darkness, leaving the film-goer momentarily confounded as to context, before another frame reveals that the peeper belongs to a girl who is looking into a ghatak. The corollary: for an instant, we, the audience, were part of the dark interior void into which the child peered – perhaps, even, we were the void (adapted from Sara Bancroft, Lullaby, Talwar Gallery, New Delhi, 2008).

Through her large-format paintings depicting nebulous skies, and her immaculate sculptures bearing cyclical shadows, the artist entices her viewer into a journey of self-exploration, bringing back countless memories of survival and livelihood.

Shambhavi Singh was born in 1966 in Patna, Bihar. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts and Crafts, Patna, in 1986, and her Master’s degree in the same after moving to New Delhi from the College of Arts there in 1992. In 2001, Singh was artist in residence at Greatmore Studios in Cape Town, South Africa. Her works have been exhibited worldwide in a number of solo shows including, ‘Lullaby’ at Talwar Gallery, New Delhi, in 2008; ‘A Bird and 2000 Echoes’ at Talwar Gallery, New York, in 2007; Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, in 2002; and ‘Passage from India’ at the Association for Visual Arts (AVA), Cape Town, in 1998. Amongst her group shows are ‘Abstraction is Alive and Kicking’ at Gallery Beyond, Mumbai, in 2005; ‘We Are Like This Only’ at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, in 2005; ‘Amrita Shergil Revisited: Celebrations of Women by Women Artists’ at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi, in 2004; and ‘Unshackled Spirit’ at the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, in 2003.

Singh lives and works in New Delhi.

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