Ranjani Shettar

Early life

Ranjani Shettar was born in 1977 in Bangalore, India. In 1998, she received her Bachelors in Sculpture from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bangalore. In 2000 she received a Masters in Sculpture, also from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat.

Career

Shettar creates sculptural installations that combine elements of nature and industry using a range of materials that include beeswax, sawdust, wood, latex, PVC tubing, silicone rubber, and metal. Known for bringing traditional crafts and practices into her contemporary work, she crafts both natural and industrial materials into multidimensional works that bring forth the metaphysical characteristics of existing within a constantly changing physical environment.

In 2009, Shettar created a group of smaller sculptural works. Bird Song is created from muslin and steel with curving, lyrical lines suggesting feathers and flight. The Bird Song sculptures hang like floating musical notes of a melody and resonate with a transient beauty found in nature. In another work, muslin cloths textured like weather worn skin are stretched into five organic forms, each seemingly compliant to a pull that makes known its delicateness with a gentle opening. Waiting for June is composed of small bake terracotta shells that reveal tender cracks that are suggestive of parched earth, poignant yet beautiful. In Shettar's sculptures and installations, she creates environments that combine the two realms, man and nature, together with graceful and dynamic forms and textures.

Artworks by Ranjani Shettar can be found in a number of leading public collections, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Walker Art Center.

Selected exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitions

Publications