Shweta Bist

Born in 1980

India/USA

date of insertion in W.A.D. 12/2023

https://www.shwetabist.com/

Biography

Inspired by personal narratives, my photographic work explores maternal subjectivity. I stage pictures to attribute value to motherwork and to oppose the consideration of home as an economically non-productive realm. My practice is rooted in values of care and honoring the feminine.

I was born in New Delhi, India, and presently live and work in New York City. My professional career began in the financial sector, but took a creative direction after I became a mother to two girls. While fulfilling my daughters’ needs for protection and nurturance, I contemplate my past experiences of disempowerment as a young girl and my current role as a mother in a capitalist society.

Memories, dreams and suppressed emotions guide my creative enquiry. I am inspired by the ever-evolving dynamic between my daughters and me, how their needs influence mine, and  how stories  of  my  past and the social milieu of our present affect our experiences. Color conveys emotion, and symbolisms from nature, popular iconography, and art history represent ideas and attributes in my compositions. Ultimately, I endeavor to create images that urge the viewer to consider the complexities of the maternal experience in its ambivalent entirety, and contribute to a narrative about the lives of women and their children, as told from their perspectives.

Curriculum

Shweta Bist

Born Aug 13, 1980, New Delhi, India

Lives and works in New York City

Exhibitions

2024 Ongoing Conversation “Artist and Child”, Roswell Visual Arts Center, GA

Mama Needs a Raise!: Toward a Utopian Care Economy, Old Stone House, Brooklyn, NY

This is What We Have, DBA Gallery, NY, NY

Open, SE Center for Photography, Greenville, SC

2023 19th Annual Small Works Show, 440 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

Small Works Show, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI

Naissance, Unit London, London, UK

Oh, Mother, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI

Time/ Space, Compère Collective, Brooklyn, NY

Maternal Interior, A2AC, Ann Arbor, MI

Procreate Project Archive, with Buildhollywod, London, UK

2022 Constructions/Connections, South x Southeast Gallery, Molena, GA

This is Essential Work, Virtual Open-Access Exhibition

Color, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT

Guardian of the Egg, Self-Organized Solo Exhibit, New York, NY

Whose Story Is it?, Spilt Milk Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

2021 These Years, Photoville, Brooklyn, NY

Multitudes, 180 Projects, Ontario, Canada

Mythical Mother, Virtual Exhibition, Spilt Milk Gallery, UK

Publications

2024 Contributor- Give & Take: Motherhood and Creative Practice, (Publisher: Demeter Press)

Bold Journey Magazine, Mar 5th

2023 Create! Magazine, Issue #41

CanvasRebel Magazine, Aug 31st

Contributor- Eye Mama: Poetic Truths of Home and Motherhood

(Book by Karni Arieli. Publisher: teNeues)

2022 Journal of Motherhood Studies, Issue 7: Creativity For a Cause

Milked Mag, Issue #4: The Interior

2021 The Mothers: Life in Lockdown, The Mothers, UK

Can Art Survive Motherhood in a Pandemic?, Maternal Art Magazine, UK, Feb Issue

2020 Ginger Zine, Issue #22

Talks

2024 Podcast-New Visionary Podcast, Mar 21st

2023 Artist Panel, Hera Gallery, RI, NY

Artist Panel, Compère Collective, Brooklyn, NY

2022 Podcast – Art of Being a Mum, Ep #51

Mother + Milked Artist Panel, George Mason University

Annual Academic and Arts Conference, Museum of Motherhood, Fl

2021-22 Featured in The Artist/ Mother Podcast, Ep #113 and #126

2021 The Missing Mother Conference, University of Bolton, UK

Residencies

2023 Thrive Together Network Art Residency- Virtual, Feb-Mar

2022 Artist/Mother Art Residency – Virtual, Feb – Mar 7

Mentoring and Curatorial

Mar 2024 Co-Curator, Mama Needs a Raise!, Brooklyn, NY Sept 2023 Co-Curator, Labor, Brooklyn, NY

May 2023 Co-Curator, Time/Space, Brooklyn, NY

Fall 2022 Co-Founded Mother Creatrix Collective in NY

July 2022 – Present: Artist Mentor for the Spilt Milk Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

Education

2019 Onwards: Private Mentoring & Various Courses in Photography at School of Visual Arts

Continuing Education and The Penumbra Foundation, New York, NY

2006 Textile Development for Fashion: National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, India

2004 Master of Commerce: Delhi University, New Delhi, India

2001 Bachelor of Commerce (Hons): Jesus and Mary College, New Delhi, India