Pritika Chowdhry

I explore cultural forms of memory and representations of historical trauma. Transnational in scope, my current work is informed by border-related violence that have occurred in different parts of the world. I seek to connect seemingly disparate geopolitical contexts, because I believe that it is important to bring bridges into being even when it seems untenable to do so. Collective memory of communities and nations provides the viscera with which I build these bridges in my work. Installed in experiential environments, these large-scale sculptures and site-sensitive installations reference the body and function as mobile and temporary memorials. I think of my works as “memory sculptures”, an eloquent term coined by cultural scholar, Andreas Huyssen. As an interdisciplinary artist, I migrate between fibers, paper, clay, paint, drawing, and photography. My studio practice is informed equally by material sensibilities as well as current cultural discourses of diaspora and migration, post-colonial theory, and feminist and queer theory. This eclecticism anchors my art practice and my understanding of the worlds I inhabit.

I have an MFA in Studio Art from University of Wisconsin - Madison, as well as an MA in Visual Culture and Gender Studies.

I have shown my works nationally and internationally in group and solo exhibitions in the Weismann Museum in Minneapolis, Queens Museum in New York, the Hunterdon Museum in New Jersey, the Islip Art Museum in Long Island, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, the DoVA Temporary in University of Chicago, the Brodsky Center in Rutgers University, and the Cambridge Art Gallery in Massachussets.