Kanchan Chander

Kanchan Chander was born in New Delhi in 1957. She received her formal training in Painting and Printmaking from College of Art, New Delhi; and then Weisensee Kunst Hochschule, Berlin, Germany and Print making, College of Art. Santiago, Chile.

Kanchan’s works are autobiographical, her life becomes an open book with the strong portrayal of the self. She was inspired by Frida Kahlo, Amrita Sher-Gil and figures from classical Indian temple sculptures. Her torsos and figures are the focus of her works. She transforms the classical into contemporary forms with her vibrant colour palette, and uses many layers of paint and gold leaf to create a textured look. She uses lace, sequins, wood, metal, paper, canvas etc to create mixed media works. She also uses photos captured by her to enhance the visual in her works.
Kanchan’s art is focused on the art of beliefs and mythic feminine figures of power like the Bhoota figures of Karnataka, tribal figures and images of the Shakti cult. In her later works, the presence of a child figure and toys speak of the intense mother-child interdependency. 

Kanchan’s journey is a continuing one – like her layered work, she continues to investigate, to interrogate her inner and outer worlds. She has held several solo shows in India and abroad. She lives and works in New Delhi.