Pallavi Sharma
Pallavi is a multidisciplinary artist and independent curator. Her socially engaged art practice addresses migration and notions of memory, marginalization, and patriarchy. Her practice and research interests concern Asian American women's cultural production and activism.
She is the founder and director of Inner Eye Arts and served on the Asian American Women's Artist Association (AAWAA) board from 2009 to 2021. Pallavi's recent publications include two Hindi poetry collections, 'Kacha Rang' (2018) and 'Koltar ke Paer' (2022).
She received her BFA and MFA from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, and a Ph.D. in Art History from the National Museum Institute of History of Art, Museology, and Conservation in New Delhi, India.
Her artwork has been exhibited in the US and abroad, including at the MacColl Center for the Arts in Charlotte, NC, the Queens Museum of Art, the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, the Aicon Gallery in New York, the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, and the Taubman Museum of Art in Virginia.
As a trained Art Historian in South Asian Art, she has researched and published on living traditions of India, contemporary Indian art, and artists. For her doctoral research, she has received a Research Grant Fellowship from the Indian Council of Historical Research, Alkazi Foundation, and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India.
Artist Statement
In my performances and installations, using multiple aids, I try to create channels to invoke a ‘sense of freedom and understanding’ of the world I live in. They are not mirror images of my life but interpretations of it and its circumstances. In doing so, I feel independent, powerful, and, more than anything else, at home.
My body of work explores how my experience of swaying between cultures has altered the meaning of “home” for me. It speaks through my baggage of experience and pulls out questions related to cultural identity. It draws from familiar images of war, fused with everyday struggles in a so-called ‘combat-free zone.’ Through encrypted images, the work delves into the integral relations between home, security, and a sense of belongingness.
I believe we all leave our mother’s womb, the prime and safe, secure home, and immigrate to this world for a reason. The transition speaks about how we keep looking for validation throughout our lives—a stamped passport to be legal citizens of this world. To become homogeneous, we live life on predetermined terms and conditions, bypassing the sole reason for immigration! Ironic as it sounds, in chaotic situations, someone from inside our bodies taps to remind us—“we came here with nothing and will be going empty-handed, so why not live with freedom and joy.”
In my performances and installations, using multiple aids, I try to create channels to invoke a ‘sense of freedom and understanding’ of the world I live in. They are not mirror images of my life but interpretations of it and its circumstances. In doing so, I feel independent, powerful, and, more than anything else, at home.
My body of work explores how my experience of swaying between cultures has altered the meaning of “home” for me. It speaks through my baggage of experience and pulls out questions related to cultural identity. It draws from familiar images of war, fused with everyday struggles in a so-called ‘combat-free zone.’ Through encrypted images, the work delves into the integral relations between home, security, and a sense of belongingness.
I believe we all leave our mother’s womb, the prime and safe, secure home, and immigrate to this world for a reason. The transition speaks about how we keep looking for validation throughout our lives—a stamped passport to be legal citizens of this world. To become homogeneous, we live life on predetermined terms and conditions, bypassing the sole reason for immigration! Ironic as it sounds, in chaotic situations, someone from inside our bodies taps to remind us—“we came here with nothing and will be going empty-handed, so why not live with freedom and joy.”
