IMON CHETIA PHUKAN India, b. 2000

Imon Chetia Phukan (b. 2000, Guwahati, Assam, India) completed her BVA at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, 2022 and is currently pursuing her Masters in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London. Her works have been exhibited in group shows at Nasreen Mohamedi display, Baroda, 2021; Cista Arts London, 2022; Bikaner House, 2022; and Sir John Soane Museum, 2024.

She has been awarded the Mehta Kaka Award, MSU, Baroda, 2021; Art ForHope Grant, Hyundai, 2022; and a scholarship from the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training in Visual Arts 2012-18. She has also been a part-time fine arts teacher at Guwahati Artist Guild from 2019 to 21 and completed Visharad in Classical Indian Music from 2012 to 2018.

Imon uses vibrant strokes and mark-making to create mandalas of forest that represent contradictions of seeping chaos between the mind and body. Her paintings started as love letters for her late father, which later transcended into her performances and installations. In her works, she uses elements from Indian miniatures, fabrics and woodblock prints, along with allegorical figures of women, men, animals and birds coexisting in the same landscapes. Energised, compelling and diversified compositions in her paintings absorb and reflect the vibrancy of migration as a carrier of history and future, along with self-exploration through layers. She uses leather, sari scraps and threads as elements of repetition in her installations.

Imon lives and works in London, United Kingdom.