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Name: Osheen Siva
Profession: Multidisciplinary artist
Lives in: Goa
Where you've seen their art: In The New York Times and National Geographic; in campaigns for Gucci, Apple, Meta, and Absolut; at St+art India’s Mumbai Urban Arts Festival in 2019; and Pulp Society’s exhibition for the India Art Fair in 2023, called Vessel.
Artistic style: Otherworldly.
Siva's artwork makes for great tattoos
Photograph by Ragini Menon
Siva turns to sci-fi imagery and Tamil and Dalit mythology for inspriation
Photograph by Ragini Menon
Siva's practice is marked by an evocative play of colour
Photograph by Ragini Menon
Their work explores ‘Dalit Tamil Futures’: I delve deeper into the question of belonging and what it means to be a part of a community, and my practice reflects these interrogations and growth as well. I coined the term ‘Dalit Tamil Futures’ to represent a paradigm influenced by Afro-futurism and Subaltern Futurism—both of which engage in the redefinition, reinterpretation, and reclamation of the histories of marginalised radical communities. I’d hope for the takeaway to be curiosity and inquisition on the established hierarchies in the society, inquiry on who the history is written by and what power structures are being perpetuated.
A career highlight: Illustrating a stage at Glastonbury 2024. I had met and worked with the Dialled In team already as part of an art and music residency programme in Nepal last year. I happened to be in the UK earlier this year to install and take part in my solo show, Karuppu, at Bonnington Gallery, when the team reached out to me to ask me to join it in designing the Shangri-La stage at Glastonbury. I was so happy that the timing aligned seamlessly and that I was able to contribute to this historic, first-ever South Asian stage, ‘Arrivals’, at the iconic music festival.
The most challenging painting to work on: The mural that I did for Mural Festival in Montreal recently was the most challenging in terms of not only the brick texture of the wall, but also its size at 40x40 ft. At the same time, it was my first wall in the North American region, so it was also exciting to be able to show [my work] to a different audience.
Siva created a mural for Montreal's Mural Festival this June
Instagram @muralfestival
An illustration by Siva greeted visitors to the 'Arrivals' stage at the Glastonbury Festival this year
Photograph by Yushy
Prized art books: Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1680-1900 by Andreas Marks, Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s by Adam Rowe, Black Hole by Charles Burns, and Weird Science, a comic-book series from the ’50s.
An art account you should follow on Instagram: @retro_scifiarts has some really fun and vast science fiction related references.
An artist whose work more people should know: Jaisingh Nageswaran, a self-taught photographer from Tamil Nadu.
Installation shot from 'Karuppu', Siva's first solo exhibition in the UK
Advice to beat a creative block: Step out, meet other humans, do what you love outside of your art practice, and definitely get off the internet.
Most unusual creative influence: I have early memories of visiting aquariums and planetariums and remember how they blew my mind in terms of the intricacies and vibrancy of the universe.
In-studio rituals: Coffee, midday naps, history podcasts while painting, and dog-petting breaks in between.
'Karuppu' immersed audiences into Siva's surreal, futuristic world
Go-to brand(s) for art supplies: Fabriano or Arches, but I’m not too picky about brands.
Artists whose work more people should collect: Shrujana Shridhar, Soufiane Ababri, Rah Naqvi, Rithika Pandey, James Jean, The World of Nabi.
You probably didn’t know that: Most of my tattoos are my artworks.
A dream collaboration: Erykah Badu.
