Hemangini Maharaul is a contemporary Indian artist and environmentalist. Through her work, she explores notions of sustainability and vulnerability, with art ranging from large paintings, moved by the Himalayan peaks and landscapes, depicted in light gold and silver colours to pocket-sized drawings, paper sketches and photography.

A passionate writer, researcher and traveller, Maharaul's influences include Renaissance artist Rembrandt, modernists Nicholas Roerich and Nilima Sheikh, contemporary artists Rithika Merchant, Sameer Kulavoor, Gagan Singh and poets Robert Frost, Ralph Waldo Emerson and feminist writer Sylvia Plath.

She has been creating and exhibiting her work since 2012, and recently founded Arteisch, a platform to encourage a collective and participatory approach towards environmental art and activism . Born in 1990 in Bharuch, Gujarat, the artist currently lives and works in Bangalore, India.

DISHING OUT

The 'dishing out' collection portrays different facets of the mountains through various types of tableware. These "dishes" literally serve messages from the mountains, depicting both its grandeur and its despoilation. A reminder that what we take is also what we destroy.

Working on the slates came from the necessity of materials. Hemangini developed an interest towards slates and plates from the rural hamlets during her stay in the Himalayan mountains throughout the first wave of covid in 2020. Slate became a metaphor for the depredations of the mountain environment that she personally witnessed during the time of her sojourn, as these matters were being mined from mountain bodies incessantly to feed the growing luxury markets of India. Little concern was being paid to the delicate ecological balance that was being disrupted in this quest for raw materials to feed insatiable markets and blind growth. The mountain was not seen as the bringer and preserver of bounty - rain, forests, animals and humans. It was seen purely as a means to an end - by a few, for a few!