ARTIST STATEMENT
My practice engages land as both collaborator and archive. Working across printmaking, collage, painting, and ceramics, I use materials such as bark, plant dyes, ash, and clay- substances shaped by time, weather, labor, and care. These materials are not passive; they carry memory in their fibers and surfaces, bearing witness to cycles of loss, regeneration, and return.
Through processes that emphasize slowness and transformation, my work explores themes of rootedness, motherhood, and the resilience of place. I am interested in how land holds personal and collective histories that often exist beyond written or human record. As Joy Harjo writes, “The land is a being who remembers everything.” This understanding guides my approach to material, process, and form. Seeds are a core part of my practice and a constant metaphor for my immigrant voice. I see the studio as an extension of the land itself- a site where memory is activated through touch and where making becomes an act of listening and stewardship.
My sculptural collages emerge from long foraging walks, during which I collect natural debris and examine it closely, often under a microscope. These observations inform the shapes and textures of my ceramic forms, which are then assembled into sculptural collages where objects gathered from the land become integral to the work.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Tulika Ladsariya explores connections using tenderness and nurturance to discuss beauty, identity, and history. Ladsariya is a qualified Chartered Accountant and her artistic practice has largely been self-driven, supported by workshops in art centers and residency programs. She transitioned to a creative full-time studio practice after her stint working for an auction house. She serves in the arts community through Artist/ Mother groups, as a board member for cultural organizations, and works in the arts administration and teaching fields on a contractual basis. She worked on the Devon streetscape design project and is a member of Spaceshift collective for a community art-space on Devon (little India in Chicago). Ladsariya has exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center, Hammond Museum NY, Ralph Arnold Gallery (Loyola University), O’Connor Gallery (Dominican University), Northeastern Illinois University NEIU, Chicago, Shingoethe Center (Aurora University), Collar Works, NY , Expo Chicago, Riverside Arts Center, ART India Fair New Delhi, Kalakriti Art Gallery Hyderabad, Jamaat Art gallery Mumbai and Art Heritage Gallery New Delhi. Her exhibition footprint has travelled through the United States, UK and India. She was a resident at the Ragdale Foundation 2026, Hyde Park Art Center 2019-2021 and a BOLT resident at Chicago Artists Coalition 2022-23. She is also a 2022-23 recipient of the In-Session Fellowship for Threewalls Foundation and an Individual Artist Program grant by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) by the City of Chicago in 2023.
© Tulika Ladsariya