Ashwini Bhat is an artist, based in California. Bhat uses sculptures, installations, video, and text, to develop a unique visual language exploring the intersections between body and nature, self and other.[1] Her work draws inspiration from her home in the foothills of Sonoma Mountains, California as well as her rural agrarian community upbringing in Southern India.[2] Her work focuses on California’s ecology in this time of climate change and shifting habitats.[3]
Ashwini Bhat | |
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| Awards | United States Artists Fellowship and The Howard Foundation Fellowship for Sculpture |
| Website | ashwinibhat |
Biography
editBorn in Puttur, Karnataka, India Ashwini Bhat has a master's degree in literature from Bangalore University. She studied classical dance (Bharatanatyam) for seventeen years and traveled internationally as a professional dancer in the Padmini Chettur Dance Company before beginning a career as a visual artist. Coming from dance to sculpture, Bhat sees a close relationship between her own body and the sculptural body she creates.[4]
Since 2015, she has lived in the USA.[5] Bhat lives in a small unincorporated town in Northern California with poet, writer Forrest Gander.[6]
In 2023, Bhat became a certified Naturalist at the Fairfield Osborn Preserve, a research site for Sonoma State University’s Center for Environmental Inquiry. She is represented by Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, and Project 88, Mumbai, India.
Awards
edit- USA Fellowship[7]
- The Howard Foundation Fellowship for Sculpture (2013–14)[8]
- McKnight Artist Residency Fellowship[9]
Selected Exhibitions
edit- “Her Nature,” Project 88, Mumbai, India[10]
- “Bay Area Now 9,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA[11]
- “In Your Arms I’m Radiant,” Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA[12]
- “Imprinted,” American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA, USA[13]
- “Ritual Encounters,” a collaborative installation, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts UC Davis, CA, USA[14]
- “Earth Took of Earth,” Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI, USA[15]
References
edit- ^ "BOMB Magazine".
- ^ "ARTSY: Curator's Choice: South Asian Artists Addressing Migration through New Artifacts". 29 May 2023.
- ^ "Sculpting California, Post-Fire".
- ^ "Dovetail Mag: Born Of Earth And Fire".
- ^ Kumar, Sujatha Shankar (24 February 2017). "On the trail of a Gypsy Potter". The Hindu.
- ^ "Artforum".
- ^ "United States Artists Fellowships".
- ^ "Previous Fellows". brown.edu.
- ^ "Six McKnight Artists".
- ^ "Shows to See During Mumbai Gallery Weekend 2024".
- ^ "Bay Area Now 9".
- ^ "In Your Arms I'm Radiant: Ashwini Bhat & Forrest Gander". 29 January 2023.
- ^ "Assembling California: Imprinted".
- ^ "Problem Solving: How to Respond to the World in a Time of Crisis". October 2020.
- ^ "Ashwini Bhat: Earth Took of Earth".