Deshna Shah is an award-winning artist based in London, UK. She holds a BFA Fine Art degree with First Class Honours from the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford and continued her artistic journey as the William Alexander Fleet Fellow at Princeton University's Department of Art and Archaeology.
Shah is committed to mediating dialogue and understanding amongst individuals, communities, institutions, and nations. Through Shah’s immersive, sensory installations, she uses symbolism to explore the residual impacts of relocation, judgment and taboos, with a particular emphasis on the South Asian diaspora. Shah has developed a unique script, known as the 'Twilight Language', by integrating the scripts of Hindi, Gujarati, and English, the artist’s script reflects on her experience being dyslexic while narrating and displaying previously unspoken personal and social stories sent to her by friends, family and the public. Her artistic practice employs playful decoding, writing, and visual imagery as methods of healing. Shah's exhibitions showcase a variety of mediums, including rice Rangoli, sculpture, sound, tapestry, scent and print. In each display of her work she challenges the audience with new methods of interactions with the art.
Her artistic journey has been marked by achievements, including winning the Emery Prize, which led to her solo exhibition "Kahani" at Pembroke Gallery, Oxford in March 2022. Deshna's work has also been featured in significant group exhibitions, including "My East is Your West" at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, "Intersections" at Paradise Works Manchester in 2022, "Sign, Symbol, Sound" at Modern Art Oxford in 2021, and "What Is the Future of Art?" at Tate Modern in 2016. Acknowledged for her artistic contributions, Deshna's work has been showcased in articles and news stories, with a BBC radio interview by Talat-Farooq Awan and exhibition reviews featured on platforms including The Fourdrinier and Tundra Exhibitions.
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