"She welcomes you to this strange world."
In the vibrant universe of contemporary artists, Bharti Kher’s name shines as brightly as the sun.
Bharti was born in London in 1969. She studied at Middlesex Polytechnic and went on to receive a BA Honours in Fine Art, Painting.
She moved to India in 1993 after she met her husband, Subodh.
In her illustrious career, Bharti has produced a beautiful array of artwork, proving her mettle in creativity and culture.
Many of her works encompass the female body and animals. Bharti is also known for her use of Bindi – representing a dot or drop forming a third eye.
In an artistic celebration of Bharti Kher’s unique talent, DESIblitz proudly presents eight of her most magnificent artworks.
Strange Attractor
This beautiful sculpture is a Bharti Kher masterpiece. This artwork welcomes visitors with a clay dish perched on a shaft.
The dish offers the replica of a home, while the florescence above the creature’s head represents sanctity.
Strange Attractor capitalises on the originality of form in its blend of woman, priapic progenitor, shaman, and ape.
This piece underlines Bharti’s fascination for bodily exploration.
Adorned with texture, colour, and intimacy, Strange Attractor beautifully captures the movement of the mind.
Of the sculpture, Bharti says: “She’s strange, but for me, she’s the shaman.
“She welcomes you to this strange world where we’re not really sure what’s going or coming.”
Mother & Child: Amar, Akbar, Anthony
This complex sculpture shows the intricacies of Bharti Kher in a resplendent way.
It depicts a mother figure in the form of an ape.
The ape carries three wooden figures that represent children.
Bharti carves surreal features in the sculpture, representing relationships and maternal power.
The idea of a mother carrying several children on her back is relatable and gritty.
It is done in a magnificent manner that shows Bharti at her very best.
Supernova II
In Supernova II, Bharti uses her signature Bindi in great and spellbinding ways.
The piece is coalesced with several Bindis in a mosaic that represents a supernova.
Rich with unique patterns and design, Supernova II is imagination and colour.
Delving into her love for the Bindi feature, Bharti explains:
“I think what I was able to do was incorporate it into my practice and make it integrally mine, and so I was able just to push it a bit further.
“I realised that there was probably a lot more going on because the surface was quite extraordinary.”
Links in a Chain
This marvellous painting is created using acrylic paint, crayon, pencil, and wax.
It is decorated with confident brushstrokes and bold uses of colour.
Links in a Chain embodies energy while taking inspiration from a variety of materials.
This includes children’s books from the 1930s and an 18th-century medical book of brain drawings.
Links in a Chain suggests that Bharti’s talent does not just lie in sculpting.
She is also an accomplished and inspiring painter.
Splitting the Atom
Returning to Bharti Kher’s penchant for Bindis, we arrive at Splitting the Atom.
This painting shines with colourful artwork, which is made up of many dots that showcase the Bindi theme.
In between the two bigger images is a large black spot, which signifies the atom.
The blue background represents the mind, which speaks to Bharti’s knack for significant meanings.
In an interview, Bharti says: “When I make art, I approach the object in the same way as I interact through the world: with my five senses awake and open.
“To be present with things as they are and hear the tone of what it is: with memories and stories and experience.
“Everything is energy and moves through us and around us.”
Ancestor
One of Bharti’s most ambitious sculptures, Ancestor, is a showcase of a universal mother that links past, present, and future.
The figure contains the heads of her 23 children that form her body.
The sculpture is a display of multiculturalism, pluralism, and interconnectedness.
Belonging, maternal love, and wisdom are all themes that are part of Ancestor.
The piece is a reminder of Bharti’s multifaceted and unshakeable talent.
The detail and bravery in every pore of the piece is a sight to behold.
The Fallow
Another monumental sculpture, The Fallow, is a piece of breathtaking bronze.
Stretching for 3.9 m, the artwork is a captivating and original showcase.
It depicts half of a woman’s body and an arc-shaped symbol forming the other side.
In this display of female multiplicity, Bharti presents a spiritual potency through the lens of negative space.
It is a product of excavation and is a testament to the artist’s genius.
The Intermediary
Sculpted out of clay and bamboo, this masterpiece has a staggering height of 4.2 m.
This piece is part of a series and once again highlights Bharti’s fondness for ornate depictions of the female body.
Using an amalgamation of different colours, the detail in the sculpture is extraordinary.
As it stands in a coastal area, its aura and mystique are infectious.
This is unquestionably a Bharti Kher phenomenon.
Bharti Kher is a dazzling artist who gleams with talent and finesse in every artwork she creates.
She divulges the importance of wisdom and nature:
“There is a universal system of intelligence that communicates with all of us at every moment, and if we choose, we can learn from a greater wisdom than our own.
“When Mother Nature speaks, we will have no choice but to listen.”
An artist with a truly staggering body of work, Bharti Kher continues to inspire and achieve.
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