Rakhi Peswani's (b. 1977, India) art practice explores the various discursive and material aspects of crafts and their nuanced connotations as languages, with a particular emphasis on the handmade. She is interested in the affective possibilities of materiality and labour and the contexts or positions they create in contemporary image-making. More recently she has been exploring the environmental and pedagogical links associated with craft-based practices. Rakhi holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting (2000) and a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramic Sculpture (MFA) (2003) from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, Gujarat. She was a Visiting Professor at the Sarojini Naidu School of Art and Communication, University of Hyderabad (2004 - 2012), a full-time faculty member and Visiting Associate Professor at the Srishti School of Art and Design, Bangalore (2012-14). School of Culture and Creative Expression at Ambedkar University, Delhi (2016-2017). Currently, he is Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Arts, Ashoka University, Sonipat, India. Organised art workshops in various art colleges, participated in various events. Academic lectures in India. His work has been widely shown in many curated exhibitions in museums, galleries and biennials in India, China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, UK and Europe. He has had solo exhibitions in Bangalore (2020), Hamburg (2021, 2019), Mumbai (2018, 2013, 2007, 2006), Delhi (2015, 2009) and Hong Kong (2011).

Portrait Malini Ghanathe
All photographs: Courtesy of the artist

RAKHI PESWANI