Bio: Shanny Kohli is a visual artist based in Durham, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband and three sons. She was born in New Delhi, India but spent most of her childhood in Kuwait. She fled Kuwait with her family during the Iraqi invasion in 1991 and resettled in Iran and India for 2 years. Eventually, she moved with her family to Dubai, UAE, where she spent her young adult life. Shanny attended the American University of Sharjah (UAE), earning a bachelor's in Visual Communication. She worked in Kuwait for a few years with various international advertising agencies before immigrating to the United States in 2009.
Shanny draws inspiration for her artwork from her multinational background, Sikh faith, art history, and science to explore various subjects, including identity, inequality and injustice, and belonging.
Shanny had her first solo exhibition featured at Golden Belt Gallery in Durham in 2021. The collection, titled “Exploration of Sikhi,” explored various representations of the ten Sikh Gurus and their teachings, which underscore equality, fighting against injustice and uplifting our fellow humans in need. The Exhibit “Exploration of Sikhi” was also designed to uplift the notion of identity, belonging and longing of what is home. Her work was also featured at VAE Raleigh. Shanny has been featured in Durham Magazine, interviewed by Canvas Rebel (https://canvasrebel.com/meet-shanny-kohli/), and by ABC 11 News about her artwork. She has also done various mixed media large scale art projects with the Sikh Gurudwara in Durham as well as with her children’s elementary school. Currently, working on developing a new body of work which consists of elements that circles the human body internally and externally.
Artist Statement: I am a Durham, NC based watercolor/gouache artist. My creative process aims to generate originality that come together to express and to provoke thought in the viewers. Expressionism is used as a form to illustrate the life and belongings of an immigrant. This creative path uplifts narratives of being human while juggling to keep up with the expectations of "others". My work embodies life in a common Sikh household and how some lessons learned from Sikhi help me navigate life. Often we are constantly put through "boxed" ideas inherited by our ancestors which are imposed on us as children. Living through moments and experiences we give birth to curiosity, and awareness. Sharing these experiences through art gives me a unique voice and also a self validation that in the end everything falls into its right place. Being far from the known world we enter a world of unknown possibilities through a process called migration and its effects on the mind and body shapes our identity.
Recently, I started making my own paints using earth pigments. Watercolors, gouache, and ink (using plants) is what I mostly use when I paint. Through active correlation of design, color, form, ideas and narratives I express on canvas and paper.
Given my own multinational background, I am also interested in learning about other cultures and traditions in our society. Major part of my work is inspired by western society and modern art and architecture. Throughout high school and college I had some awesome teachers who inspired me and got my creative juices flowing. Even though I went to a school of digital art, my interest was always in fine arts. My childhood was mostly spent studying, playing with western toys such as Cinderella, Barbie dolls and watching disney movies along with going to Sikh Gurudwara Sahib (Sikh place of worship) every Friday. The weekly Sikh programs took place in homes of respected community members in Kuwait because back then Sikhs as being minorities were not allowed to have a designated place of worship. As I grew older I started exploring my identity as a Sikh woman and my direct interaction with Sikhi. As soon as I became a mother, that very moment I learned of the challenges of raising children in a western world. I chose art as a way to help me narrate and share my motherhood experiences. My own childhood felt like a blur, I wanted to document these special moments that freeze in time through beauty, darkness and longing. I wanted to leave an everlasting impression on my viewers. I also saw a desperate need in the western world where there was a lack of understanding of the Sikhs because it is fairly a newer concept. My kids inspire me everyday, they keep me going and motivated.
You can call it a big fat bubble but I call it a step into self discovery which is supposed to be an integral part of human evolution. We all have one or the other sorts of passion, I feel grateful that I am able to follow my dream hoping for it to grow and flourish into something unimaginable. Being fully immersed in this path to productivity, creativity is what I call living and just being.
I am also grateful to be a part of this fast growing artists community in North Carolina. Thank you for taking your time in learning about me and my practice.
