BIOGRAPHY
Shani Ghosh is a Manly-born Australian artist creating surrealistic drawings and digital photomontages. She recently graduated from the National Art School with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree, majoring in Photomedia (2022). Past exhibitions in galleries across Sydney include showing at the Warringah Creative Space, the Rayner Hoff Gallery and National Art School’s Library Stairwell Gallery. Her Visual Arts HSC drawings of 2010 were selected for Art Express and exhibited at Manly Art Gallery.
Teaching art classes and interning at the Kensington Contemporary Art Gallery have contributed to her experience and ongoing work as a creative mentor, artist and writer for the arts. Commissioned and exhibited works reside in private collections across Australia, New Zealand, and London.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Shani Ghosh at the drawing easel. Photographer: Ariane Campbell.
Working predominantly with graphite and charcoal on paper, Shani creates highly detailed drawings with surreal influences. Her practice utilises introspection and self-analysis to generate ideas, often from journalling and quiet contemplation. Reoccurring themes include identity, solitude, and the phenomenon of inspiration. Thoughts and feelings are translated into visual metaphors to chart her inner world. The act of drawing for hours in a private studio space becomes a form of meditation and catharsis, where the internal becomes external through creative expression.
Major influences include René Magritte, Frida Kahlo and Vladimir Kush.