Bharti Kher is a UK artist. She studied painting at Newcastle Polytechnic before moving to New Delhi and developing an interest in sculpture. She talks about using her experience as an outsider to inform her art practice that includes a diverse range of materials, styles and themes. She allows the materials to inspire her work and drive the process of making.
A large part of Kher’s practice is the transformation of collected objects, such as The hot winds that blow from the west, which is made from old radiators collected over several years and stacked, removing their intended function. The work is a commentary on the global economic landscape, and perceptions of the reliability and stability of the west.
The Deaf Room is a structure of glass bricks that Kher has created by melting down ten tonnes of bangles. The material has transformed from a fragile object to a solid one. The work references the 2002 riots that took place in Gujarat and widespread violence against women. The sound that bangles usually make as they move has been silenced, echoing the silencing of female voices.
The Hot Winds that blow from The West, 2011
The Deaf Room, 2001-2012
Cloud Walker, 2013
Strange Attractor, 2021
Kher also has an interest in more figurative sculptures where she includes a wide range of materials. Her use of saris stems from her childhood, when she would help out by dressing mannequins at her mother’s textile and sari shop on weekends. Passed down through the generations, Kher sees the sari as a representation of female traditions and an important symbol to South Asian women. She created a series called Sari Women, which is comprised of forms cast from mannequins and draped in saris which have been coated in resin, giving them a sculptural, glass-like effect. Treated in this way, the fabric seems to take on a character of its own, almost echoing the personalities that may have previously worn it, but the use of modern materials also transforms it and gives it a new life. I was inspired by this sense of presence that her work creates, and the transformation of materials where Kher has allowed the object’s previous energy to remain, but presented it in a new context and new light.
Warrior with Cloak and Shield, 2008
Ghost, 2024
Bharti Kher’s Alchemies is showing at Yorkshire Sculpture Park from 22/06/24 until 27/04/2025.