Indrani Nayar-Gall was born in the city of Kolkata, India. She acquired her BFA and MFA in printmaking from Visva Bharati University, and a further Adv. Graduate Certificate in Contemporary Non-Toxic printmaking from RIT, NY in 2005. She was in-charge of the fine art program at Harrison College and then coordinated the BFA printmaking program at Barbados Community College before moving to United States. She hasexhibited regionally, internationally, and represented Barbados many times in international shows. Printmaking Today, the leading printmaking journal of UK, has published her article on innovations she has made in Contemporary 4-color Photo Intaglio. She is now an independent artist engaged in printing, painting, doing independent research and conducting workshops.  

Her present body of work creates a personal narrative by examining some of the issues related to migration, displacement, acculturation and hybridization. Many of these are constructions from her personal encounters, memories and readings.  A major aspect of their content is the trauma of migration, in being a minority in an unfamiliar landscape and the phenomenon of acculturation. These experiences are referenced in her work by juxtapositions of the immediate surroundings with the one of the past.

 INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS

• 2007 Jan.19-Feb.10, Cleveland State University, Gallery C, OH, USA
• 2006 November Kingscott Gallery, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
• 2005 Water Street Coffee Joint Gallery, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
• 1996 Arrows - Barbados Museum Gallery, Barbados
• 1995 Oh civilization! - Chitrakut Gallery, Calcutta, India

SELECTED RECENT COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS

• 2006 - The Transferred Image, Juried Show, 33 Collective Gallery, Chicago, USA; Our Town, Group Show (Invitational), Epic Center, Kalamazoo, MI, USA, Contemporary Printmaking, University Of Indianapolis (invitational), USA; Portfolio, Southern Graphics (Invitational), USA
• 2005 - Juried Mid America Print Council Members Exhibition, Central Michigan University Gallery, MI, USA; Empowering Images - Corcoran Gallery, Washington DC USA (SGC); Annual Print Exchange - Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI USA
• 2003  - ‘Cuatro’ Four Artists, AICA Conference - Central Bank of Barbados, Barbados
  Annual Faculty Show - Barbados Community College, Barbados
• 2002 - First Contact – Invitational Non-Toxic exhibit, Dumfries, Scotland; IV Bienal Del Caribe - Santo. Domingo, Dominican Republic (one of the most important biennial of the Caribbean region)
• 2001 - Group show - Zemicon Gallery, Barbados; Mini Print Internacional- Cadaques, Spain 
• 2000 - 4th Mini Print Internacional – Argentina Prints - Imagers21 group show, Queens Park, Barbados; Barbados Arts Council Show, Sherbourn Center, Barbados; The Urban Life in the Caribbean - traveling group show, Centro Cultura de Cariforo, Dominican Republic
• 1999  -  Mini Print International - Cadaques, Spain; Inns and Out- group show, Queens Park, Barbados; Prints

Art Barbados Gallery, London

• 1998 - What Kind of Mirror Image - The Barbados Museum, Barbados; Contemporary Art in Barbados- The Barbados Gallery, London; World Print Festival – Slovenia; Five 'O' Clock in the Afternoon - Group show Printmaking, Imagers 21, Art Foundry, Barbados
  XII Biennial De San Juan Del Grabado Latinoamericano Y Del Caribe- San Juan (most important international print biennial of THE Caribbean and Latin America)
• 1997 - Contemporary Art from Barbados - The Gallery in Cork Street, London; First print biennial Dominican Republic - Centro de Art Nouveau, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• 1996 - Machinations--an exhibition of wielded sculpture, Art Foundry, Barbados
• 1992 - NOW - Queen's Park Gallery, Barbados, W. Indies; 1991 Caribe - France and Trinidad, National representation

PUBLIC ART AND COMMISIONS - MURAL

• 2001-‘02 - IN BIM 8ft x80ft, Mixed-media, National Cultural Foundation, Barbados
• 2000 - TURTLES, six 5ft x3ft x2ft panels, terracotta - Asta Beach Hotel, Barbados

AWARDS        

• 2001-1st Prize - National Mural Contest, NCF, Barbados; 2000 - Gold- Central Bank Purchase Award, Crop-Over Festival, Barbados National Competition
• 2000 - Bronze, National Independence Festival of Creative Arts, Barbados; 1997 Bronze, National Independence Festival of Creative Arts, Barbados
• 1994-‘95 - Merit Scholarship, Visva Bharati University, West Bengal, India
• 1990 - Honorable Mention, Art Collection Foundation, Barbados
• 1975-‘80 - Merit Scholarship, Visva Bharati University, West Bengal, India

SELECTED LECTURES/ PUBLIC SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT/ MEDIA APPEARENCES

• 2007 - Gallery talk, Cleveland State University, OH, USA; Artist Talk – Western Michigan University, MI, USA
• 2006 -“Indrani In Wonderland”-Amy Sult Stevens, Nov. 19, 2006, Kalamazoo Gazette (MI)
• 2005 -  Guest Speaker, Creative Sources, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY; Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition, University of Indianapolis
• In 2002  - Mural In the Making Part I &II, Government Information Service presentation in Caribbean Broadcasting corporation, Barbados;  ‘‘Cuatro’’ de la IV Bienal del Caribe y más arte en Barbados; Marianne de Tolentino, Santo Domingo  
• 2000 Four Artists, Government Information Service presentation, Barbados; Opening speech, Prints, Queens Park Gallery, Barbados
• 1999 Guest speaker, Art Foundry, Barbados; Art In Barbados: What Kind of Mirror Image? Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Press, 1999; Imprint vol. 34.No. 2. Print Council Of Australia 1998  -   'Accepting the challenge' group review, Advocate, August 9
• 1997 - Guest speaker, Barbados Gallery of Art, Barbados; Printmaking in Barbados, Centro de Art Nouveau, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• 1996  - Living, breathing, works of art, Sun Shine Magazine, Sept1; Fascinating 'Arrows' a cultural blend, Patricia Edghill, Sunday Advocate Oct 20; Going Places: Distinctive and Exceptional, Arun Ghosh, Desh Weekly, January, India; Indian Art, Barbados Community College, Barbados; Indian Art past and present, Barbados Public Library, Barbados
• 1995 - The Asian Age', 14 July, Rajan Bali
• 1993 - Local panelist, Symposium, Design Process and Design Education, Design Centre, Barbados

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. USA, ’06 (SGC)
Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington D.C, USA, ’05 (SGC); Southern Graphics Council, USA
National Gallery of Barbados, Barbados; Ministry of Education, Barbados; Central Bank of Barbados Barbados Gallery of Art; Art Collection Foundation, Barbados
Visva Bharati University, India
Agart Art Association, World Print Festival, Slovenia
Private collection in Barbados, USA, England, France, India

ARTIST STATEMENT
 
 Repeated migration has made me very aware of issues related to identity, ethnicity, perception, self esteem, gender issues, race relations, prejudice and discrimination. In my present body of work I am creating a personal narrative by examining some of these issues in relation to migration, displacement, and acculturation. Much of these are constructions from my personal encounters, memories and readings.  A major aspect of it is the trauma of migration that makes one a minority, different, and faced with uncertainty in an unfamiliar landscape. In the acculturation process, an inevitable result of migration is the birth of two personas creating schizophrenia, alienation and often an identity crisis. These experiences are referenced in my work by juxtapositions of the immediate surroundings with the one of the past. A dream like situation is thus created where present and past overlap continuously. Alice’s journey in Wonderland has proven to me to be quite a powerful metaphor in portraying these issues. Alice’s encounters with the strange, absurd landscape parallels the experience of the ‘other’, which is always strange and bizarre. I am using Alice and especially the original drawing of Alice’s white rabbit - herald of Wonderland - as a reference in my work to reinforce that sense of the bizarre and strange. Repetition is another important tool in my work, it affirms and emphasize a thought or a quality.

As a printmaker I enjoy the involved working process of intaglio but lately found the traditional metal plate rather rigid and confining. Furthermore, it conflicted with the concept of synthesis which I am trying to express in my work, an imperative for the migrant. I enjoy the freedom and the flexibility of the contemporary photopolymer processes. They allow me more room to create a less restricted imagery that is not bound by the rigid rectangular format of metal plates. In the new process water-based Akua Intaglio ink is a source of a great deal of enjoyment. I like mixing a variety of techniques, different size plates, drawing, tearing, adding cloth and sewing. I use techniques as metaphors in creating the synthesis I seek in relation to my concept of acculturation and migration. I am hoping to continue to use safe printmaking processes, unconventional methods and media to expand this body of work.