Shanthamani Muddaiah (b. 1967, Mysore, Karnataka, India) is a Bengaluru-based visual artist whose practice spans sculpture, installation, drawing, and multimedia. For over three decades, her work has explored the intersections of ecology, material memory, gender, and social structures through an intuitive and process-driven engagement with materials. Working with charcoal, paper pulp, thread, bamboo, and organic matter, Muddaiah creates forms that embody fragility, transformation, erosion, and resilience. Her sculptures often evoke bodily, architectural, and landscape-like presences, reflecting on how systems of sustenance—ecological, social, and domestic—can gradually shift toward imbalance and rupture.
Muddaiah studied painting at CAVA, Mysore University, and completed her MFA from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda. She later pursued papermaking studies in Glasgow, Scotland, experiences that significantly shaped her tactile and material-oriented practice. Her early engagement as a trainee wall-painting conservationist with INTACH also informed her sensitivity toward surfaces, residue, and histories embedded within materials.
Her work has been exhibited widely across India and internationally, including at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, National Gallery of Modern Art, Museum of Art & Photography Bengaluru, Science Gallery Bengaluru, Serendipity Arts Festival, Drawing Now Art Fair Paris, and exhibitions in Paris, Miami, London, Tel Aviv, Colombo, and Denmark. She has presented solo exhibitions at Suzanne Tarasieve Gallery, Paris; Gallery Helene Lamarque, Miami; and Sumukha Gallery, Bengaluru, among others.
Alongside her studio practice, Muddaiah has been involved in public art initiatives, institutional collaborations, teaching, and advisory roles. She currently serves in advisory capacities with Zinnov Foundation and Venkatappa Art Gallery. Her works are held in significant private and institutional collections in India, Europe, and the United States, including Swiss Re, Fondation Antoine de Galbert, and Bengaluru International Airport.
Rooted in slowness, accumulation, and tactile inquiry, Muddaiah’s practice creates contemplative spaces that invite reflection on memory, ecology, and the subtle tensions embedded within contemporary life.
