Shivangi Ladha
Shivangi Ladha is a printmaker, draftswoman, and installation artist who has exhibited in India and England. Recent exhibitions in London include participation at The Other Art Fair, Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, Hypha Studios, Filet Gallery, Barbican Art Centre, and Artcore Gallery. Shivangi’s works and biography have been published by BenUri Gallery & Museum in London and she has received awards from TAF emerging artist South Asia, The Arts Family : Global Talent Award by Art Council England, and was nominated for the Queen Sonja Print Award.
The prints and installations are studies in repetition and pattern-making to study the purpose of collectivism in identity. Ranging from foliage to architecture to birds to figures, the subject becomes repeated into a pattern to create a holistic and almost abstract composition. The subject becomes a tool to express the oneness of the composition through form and placement. Even when depicting an individual, Shivangi repeats the figure across the entire space to reflect the erasure of individuality or an integral chain connection to society.
Much like how one may look at the galaxy and realize how small we are comparing our atoms to the rest of the particles in the universe, Shivangi reminds the viewer of how negligible we are in the grand scheme of creation and nature. Her works are as much a reflection on society as in nature, intertwining these ecosystems in regards to the overall characteristics of the patterns in the art. As she weaves subjects into metaphors of pattern, Shivangi allocates individual roles into collective ones.
In Self Portrait III (pictured above), Shivangi repeats an avatar of herself over and over again until becoming blurred into abstraction and oblivion. The end result being a pleasant color schematic and pattern but with context becomes a piece fading away her memory and physical being into the abyss of the composition. Either a work of erasure or humility, she distorts her own being to make a statement about her collective ideals.
Shivangi Ladha creates intricate and nuanced metaphorical motifs which draw upon the purpose of the grand scheme of civilization. Her deconstructions and reconstructions of subjects into forms of repeated compositional allotments repurpose the very foundations of personal freedom, identity, and collectivism. She curates scenery into not only aesthetically rich layouts but also an integrative approach to interconnection with nature and with humanity as a whole.
