About | Garima Tripathi Art

Garima Tripathi (b. 1987) is an Indian artist and Vipassana practitioner. She works in sculptures, public art installations and prints. Garima learned pottery from traditional potters in Dharavi, Mumbai. She studied sculpting in the US at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and as further developed her practice as a visiting artist at Harvard University's Ceramic studio. She received her MFA with Distinction from Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford, UK. She also cofounded a healthcare startup, Care24 (www.care24.co.in), to take care of elderly at home. She holds postgraduate diplomas in ‘Indian Aesthetics’ from Jnanapravaha, Mumbai and in ‘Buddhist Analysis of Mind’ from K J Somaiya Institute, Mumbai. Her artistic journey includes various art residencies in India, Denmark, and the USA. Garima's work has been exhibited in India, the US, South Korea, Denmark, the UK. She has created permanent installations in Cambridge USA, Anneberg Kulturpark in Denmark and IIT Bombay, India.

Artist Statement

Where is a woman’s space to rest, play and grow? Having experienced neglect of women’s health and agency in Indian middle-class homes, I use clay with other materials to create nurturing spaces for women that are inspired by architectural forms in nature. My practice is a search for agency within the systemic realities through the artworks. Psychoanalyst D W Winnicott’s concepts on play and the Buddhist philosophy of interconnectedness underpin my research. My Cave and Niche Series provide retreats for women to rest and grow. Caves were built for and by the community in the slums of Mumbai and at a sculpture park in Denmark. I collaborated with the community to carve ceramic beads. My Niches emerge from weeks of firing in anagama kilns. The laborious process [chopping wood, stoking the fire] and their empty spaces mirror the internal labour of psychoanalysis. “The Plight and Play” series explores feminist ecologies of the Banyan trees that grow throughout India. Instead of growing vertically, they expand horizontally through aerial roots, with a single Banyan tree covering over 3 acres. Their natural architecture presents a model for playful growth and co-existence. I build upon the Indian tradition of using clay architecturally to create such spaces. Pairing the Banyan form in terracotta with domestic objects like mops, doormats, and pan scrubbers juxtaposes domestic labour with the nourishment of connective growth. The Daughter’s Chant series subverts the traditional Buddhist mandalas with carved texts (Like ‘Obsessed with her son’, ‘Arthritis’, ‘maa’, ‘Dependent for Money’, ‘Cracked heels’ ) about a daughter’s memory of her mother. The work uses ceramic as a sound language to create a sonic and cacophonous space as a protest. I am also one of the founding members of a healthcare company, Care24(www.care24.co.in), in India. Care24 takes care of the elderly at home. This work revealed the suffering of many families because of one sick person at home. This exposure to the lives of the elderly has reinforced my commitment to creating art that addresses well-being.