Manjot Kaur’s drawings, paintings, and time-based media attempts summon the mystical and absurd to draw attention to current socio-political predicaments and the sovereignty of ecology. Borrowed imagery and text bridge the past and present, which traverse across speculative fiction, visual storytelling and myth making, to explore the interconnection between humans and more than humans.
With an attempt to decolonise both women’s bodies and nature, she refers to archaic cultural symbols of fertility in order to reflect on reproduction rights of flora and fauna. Cross Pollinating ancient mythologies and histories, she counter-narrates iconic motifs and attributes, and set them in juxtaposition with one another, to allow opportunities for critical reflection. Threaded throughout are revelations of sexuality, fecundity, kinship and freedom. There emerges a conceptual framework of natureculture, which proposes alternative ways of thinking about agency and power, difference and sociality, ontology and epistemology.

Manjot completed her B.F.A and M.F.A in Painting from Government College of Art, Panjab University, Chandigarh. She has been an artist in residence at Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, Netherlands (2020-21), 1 Shanthiroad, Bangalore, India (2019), Unidee, Cittadellarte, Fondazione Pistoletto, Italy (2018) supported by Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation, India and Peers – Khoj International Artists’ Association, New Delhi, India (2018). Her recent participations include ‘Non- Fungible Speculations’, Nature Morte, New Delhi, India (2022), ‘The World Awaits You Like a Garden’, Latitude 28, New Delhi, India (2022); ‘The Pool of Memories’, Surrey Art Gallery, Greater Vancouver, Canada (2022); ‘Hurting and Healing – Let’s Imagine a Different Heritage’, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden (2022), ‘Terrain Offline’, Bikaner House, New Delhi, India (2021) and ‘Garden State’, Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands (2021) among others.