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
Born
AwardsUnited States Artists Fellowship and The Howard Foundation Fellowship for Sculpture
Websiteashwinibhat.com

Biography edit

Born 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

  • McKnight Artist Residency Fellowship[9]

Selected Exhibitions edit

  • “Her Nature,” Project 88, Mumbai, India[10]
  • “In Your Arms I’m Radiant,” Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA[12]
  • “Ritual Encounters,” a collaborative installation, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts UC Davis, CA, USA[14]

References edit

  1. ^ "BOMB Magazine".
  2. ^ "ARTSY: Curator's Choice: South Asian Artists Addressing Migration through New Artifacts".
  3. ^ "Sculpting California, Post-Fire".
  4. ^ "Dovetail Mag: Born Of Earth And Fire".
  5. ^ Kumar, Sujatha Shankar (24 February 2017). "On the trail of a Gypsy Potter". The Hindu.
  6. ^ "Artforum".
  7. ^ "United States Artists Fellowships".
  8. ^ "Previous Fellows". brown.edu.
  9. ^ "Six McKnight Artists".
  10. ^ "Shows to See During Mumbai Gallery Weekend 2024".
  11. ^ "Bay Area Now 9".
  12. ^ "In Your Arms I'm Radiant: Ashwini Bhat & Forrest Gander".
  13. ^ "Assembling California: Imprinted".
  14. ^ "Problem Solving: How to Respond to the World in a Time of Crisis".
  15. ^ "Ashwini Bhat: Earth Took of Earth".

External links edit