Shweta Bist

Born in 1980

India/USA

date of insertion in W.A.D. 12/2023

https://www.shwetabist.com/

Biography

Inspired by personal narratives, my photographic work explores maternal subjectivity. I stage pictures to attribute value to motherwork and to oppose the consideration of home as an economically non-productive realm. My practice is rooted in values of care and honoring the feminine.

I was born in New Delhi, India, and presently live and work in New York City. My professional career began in the financial sector, but took a creative direction after I became a mother to two girls. While fulfilling my daughters’ needs for protection and nurturance, I contemplate my past experiences of disempowerment as a young girl and my current role as a mother in a capitalist society.

Memories, dreams and suppressed emotions guide my creative enquiry.  I am inspired by the ever-evolving dynamic between my daughters and me, how their needs influence mine,  and  how  stories  of  my  past and the social milieu of our present affect our experiences. Color conveys emotion, and symbolisms from    nature, popular iconography, and art history represent ideas and attributes in my compositions. Ultimately, I endeavor to create images that urge the viewer to consider the complexities of the maternal experience in its ambivalent entirety, and contribute to a narrative about the lives of women and their children, as told from their perspectives.

Curriculum

Shweta Bist

Born Aug 13, 1980, New Delhi, India

Lives and works in New York City

Exhibitions

2023 Labor, Spoke the Hub, Brooklyn, NY

Naissance, Curated by Hettie Judah for Unit London, London, UK

Oh, Mother, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI

Time/ Space, Compère Collective, Brooklyn, NY, Maternal Interior, Ann Arbor Arts Center, Ann Arbor, MI Procreate Project Archive with Buildhollywood, London, UK

2022 Constructions/Connections, South x Southeast Gallery, Molena, GA

This is Essential Work, Virtual Open-Access Exhibition

Color, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT

Guardian of the Egg, Self-Organized Solo Exhibit, New York, NY

Whose Story Is it?, Spilt Milk Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

2021 These Years, Photoville, Brooklyn, NY

Multitudes, 180 Projects, Ontario, Canada

Mythical Mother, Virtual Exhibition, Spilt Milk Gallery, UK

Publications

Interview with Canvas Rebel Magazine, 2023

Eye Mama: Poetic Truths of Home and Motherhood, 2023

Journal of Motherhood Studies, Issue 7: Creativity For a Cause, 2022

Milked Mag, Issue 4: The Interior, Spring 2022

The Mothers: Life in Lockdown, The Mothers, UK, 2021

Can Art Survive Motherhood in a Pandemic?, Maternal Art Magazine, UK, Feb 2021

Ginger Zine, Issue 22, Fall 2020

Talks

Podcast – Art of Being a Mum, Ep #51, July 2022

Mother + Milked Panel Discussion, George Mason University, May 2022

Annual Academic and Arts Conference,Museum of Motherhood, Fl, Mar 2022

Featured in The Artist/ Mother Podcast, Episodes 113 and 126, 2021-22

The Missing Mother Conference, University of Bolton, UK, Apr 2021

Residencies

2023 Thrive Together Network Art Residency- Virtual, Feb-Mar

2022 Artist/Mother Art Residency – Virtual, Feb 7- Mar 7

Mentoring and Curatorial

July- Dec 2022 Artist Mentor for the Spilt Milk Gallery, Edinburgh, UK May 2023 Co-Curator, Time/Space, Group Exhibition, Brooklyn, NY

Education

2019 Onwards: Private Mentoring & Various Courses in Photography at School of Visual

Arts Continuing Education and The Penumbra Foundation, New York, NY

2006 Textile Development for Fashion: National Institute of Fashion Technology, New

Delhi, India

2004 Master of Commerce: Delhi University, New Delhi, India

2001 Bachelor of Commerce (Hons): Jesus and Mary College, New Delhi, India