Sunaina Bhalla

Sunaina is a contemporary artist of Indian origin, who currently lives and works in Singapore. She moved to Tokyo in the late 90’s and has spent the last two decades in various parts of North and South Asia. Having completed her formal education as a textile designer specializing in print, she chose to pursue an immersive education in Nihonga, when living in Japan and spent 5 years working under Ohta-sensei of the Kyoshin-Do school, studying Sumie-e and Nihonga – the traditional Japanese art forms of painting.

Her work revolves around the repetitive and ritualistic nature of gestures and their traces. She explores the transformative effects of the deliberate infliction of pain on the human body during the curative process of alleviating disease and decay. By using industrial materials analogous to the fragile nature of the body, juxtaposed with natural fabric and embroidery, she examines the passage of time and the mark making that documents this process. She use materials like wax, bandages and threads to create 2D and installation works
Sunaina’s has exhibited in Japan, India, Singapore and Europe. Apart from being in the permanent collections of the ESSL Museum, Vienna and Mumbai Airports Authority, India, her works are in various private collections globally. Her solo exhibition of the themed series “The Rising Sun” was sponsored by The Japan Foundation as the art representation for the 50 year celebration of Indo-Japan cultural ties.