Red Lodge Clay Center – Short-Term Resident 2024
Interdisciplinary artist Devishi Seth undertakes a reflective examination of the contemporary world and our ecological footprint. She delves into her cultural and historical heritage through clay, bronze, and painting, aiming to reconstruct lost practices and knowledge systems through female divinity. Devishi completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and is now based in New York City.
She received the NCECA Regina Brown Undergraduate Fellowship in 2023 and has showcased her work in spaces across Chicago, New Jersey, New York, and India. Devishi has attended various residencies and been awarded fellowships from the Penland School of Craft, and Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts.
My practice is informed by the confluence of my Indian heritage, feminine identity, and our planet’s sustenance. They guide the formation of my work in clay, bronze, and paint. Learning the Indigenous knowledge from my ancestors, I look back at ancient temples to join the movement of uplifting Indian women. The materials I use are integral to ritualistic practices, their traditional and spiritual history in temples inspires the stylization of female figures in my work. I seek the endless possibilities they provide, creating an intersection of traditional and contemporary styles of the female body.
The process of working with materials from the earth; receiving and giving back to her captivates my practice. ‘Yatha Pinde Tatha Brahmande’, ‘As is the microcosm is the macrocosm.’ Signing my work as Devi, goddess in Sanskrit, I am not the sole ‘doer’ of my work. I am but a medium and my work is an amalgamation of the inspiration and efforts of interconnected souls across time.