Biography
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Kiyomi Talaulicar, an artist whose expressions combine both the figurative and the abstract, was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra. A gold medallist from Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai (BFA, Painting,1986), Kiyomi moved to the USA in 1988. She continued studies in the Arts at Indiana University in Bloomington, then attained an MFA (Painting, 1993) at East Carolina University, where she was awarded the Gravely Foundation Scholarship and the Liquitex Excellence in Art Award. She received Juror’s Awards and Honours at various National Art Exhibitions in North Carolina, Minnesota, New Mexico and Wisconsin between 1991-1999. In 2001-02, she was awarded the Jerome Foundation / Women's Art Registry of Minnesota Scholarship, after which she returned to India, in 2003.
Since her return, some of Kiyomi’s participations include Solo Exhibitions such as The Avid Gaze at Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai (2008), The Past Was Yesterday at The Arts House, Singapore (2014) & Unlocking Stillness at Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi (2017); Art Fairs such as ArtDubai (2008 & 2009) and India Art Fair (2009, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2020), and Curated Group Exhibitions such as Present Future at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai (2005), Aqua, Aubergine, Slate at Gallery Espace, New Delhi (2006), Women’s Work at the Phipps Center for the Arts, Wisconsin (2007), iWitness at The Museum Gallery, Mumbai (2008), 1 x 1 India at The Trident, Mumbai (2009), Songs of Sorrow, Songs of Joy at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum Lawns, Mumbai (2010), The Paul Hartley Legacy at Lee Hansley Gallery & The Greenville Museum of Art, North Carolina (2010), Black And White In The Horizon at MS University, Vadodara (2010), At Walden Pond at Gallery Beyond, Mumbai (2011), The Two Worlds of Indian Contemporary at The Arts House, Singapore (2012), Pledge 2013 -An Auction & Benefit Dinner by CRY America Inc, New York (2013), Noir Blanc at The Loft, Mumbai (2014), Avaaz Do, by SAHMAT at the Times Literature Festival, Mumbai (2015), Text As Text-1 at Gallery Art & Soul, Mumbai (2017), Maximizing The Minimal at Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai (2018), Touch Beyond The Surface at Rukshaan Art, Mumbai (2019), Inspiration at the Kalaghoda Arts Festival 2020, Mumbai (2020), Contemporary Indian Art: Two21 at Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi (2021) and The Art of India 2022 at The Helipad Exhibition Center, Gandhinagar (2022), among many others.
Two of Kiyomi’s paintings were featured in the film ‘OLU’ by esteemed cinematographer, Shaji N. Karun (2018). She was also invited by Seher India, in collaboration with The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, to the ASEAN-India Artists’ Camp in Udaipur, Rajasthan (2017), and by Seher India, in collaboration with Rajasthan Tourism, to partake in the International Art Camp for GANDHI UTSAV in Jaipur, Rajasthan (2019).
Kiyomi lives and works in Mumbai.
Artist Statement
![Kiyomi Talaulicar](/static/img/bio-statement.jpg)
Painting is a journey that brings me each time, to affirm eager reverence towards life as a singular vision, despite its dual nature.
I seek to reflect that innate simplicity, elegance or beauty about life, not merely that which uplifts or pleases our sensibilities, but a feeling of basic trust that lingers, despite life's many complexities.
My creative journey is also about wanting to find hope, in any given situation.
Leaves, doors, windows, walls, vessels, chairs, patterns, shadows and other forms often repeat in my work as emblems of humankind…and which in the end, symbolize an 'affirmation of being'. What draws me to them are the roles they play relating to human life, such as a bowl having the ability to receive, to hold, to contain and to give.
Painting in layers is what I deeply enjoy, as the process of layering and integrating various media, triggers various choices, possibilities and setbacks in the creative process, reflecting the kind of constant change and continual self-reinvention that each of us experience throughout our lifetime.