Tejswini Narayan Sonawane

The Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts awards a Grand Prize, which traditionally includes the presentation of a solo show at the next Biennale. This practice forges a creative bond between successive editions of the Biennale and preserves the memory of the themes of its individual iterations.

The winner of the Grand Prize of the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts is Indian artist Tejswini Narayan Sonawane, who is on this occasion presenting her exhibition One Moon, One Sun. The complex spiritual dimensions of her works emphasise the existential entanglement of all those who are unable to decide their own fate. A possible way out of this dark experience, as presented by the artist in her graphic works, drawings, spatial paintings and installations, is by layering and merging the human and animal worlds, reality and fantasy. Her multifaceted imaginarium is interwoven with the recurring motif of the bird, which emerges as the artist's self-image that takes flight from the dense incisions in the graphic matrix, in such a way prizing open the conscious into the unconscious and expanding the irrepressible flow of artistic creation as a means of achieving freedom.

Tejswini Narayan Sonawane (1987, Solapur, Maharashtra, India) received her Master of Arts in Printmaking in Mumbai. Her work encompasses a range of art techniques including woodcut, etching, drawing and watercolour. She has participated in over forty solo and group exhibitions and has been the recipient of numerous awards, scholarships and residencies. She regularly conducts workshops in India and abroad.

Curator of the exhibition: Yasmín Martín Vodopivec