Weaving together reimagined translations of Indian mythologies and folklore, new narratives are born metaphorical for the female embodiment of agency and autonomy. Compounded with cultural symbolism and a cryptic process of layering that draws upon Mughal miniatures, Shiv Lalgi’s richly coloured canvases tell the stories of metaphysical women accompanied with disproportionate animals, the wild and the unknown. Her emotively charged, magic realist paintings create an intimate atmosphere of tenderness and ambiguity, a space of reflection charged with soundscapes that aim to recreate the dynamic that exists between listeners and storytellers. Working from a combination of personal archival material and the imagination, her paintings stem from a process of looking, collecting, and transforming.

Shiv Lalgi (b. 2001, London) is a British South Asian artist based in London, currently studying at the Slade School of Fine Art. Working across sound, photography and painting, her practice seeks to be a poetic process of decolonisation, exploring the necessity of healing that arises from the re-entering and reconciliation of existence, hybridity and memory.