We are delighted to welcome Nandita as our current artist-in-residence. An anthropoet by practice, her work fluidly traverses painting, illustration, haibun, academic writing, lexical landscapes, ethnography, and abstraction—constantly blurring the boundaries between disciplines, mediums, and modes of thought.Having previously lived and volunteered in Auroville, she returns through this residency with a project that attempts to create an “encyclopaedia of lenses”, a layered, poetic network of connections to experience Auroville not as a place, but to explore it through borrowed lenses. In her studio, at Citadines, we can see her creating a lasagna of layers with words and images. One can clearly see how easily her writings become companion pieces to her drawings, inviting us into a space where images and words converse.

I am an Illustrator, Graphic Designer and an Anthropologist. Being a Delhi-born, Japan-influenced and London-based artist, I consider myself a multilocal, as all identity is experience and does not come from a nation. These days I make a living by drawing and weaving on clothes for a living. I have spent my adult years in many places doing different things as a farmer, librarian , designer, architect, waiter, researcher, and mason. Being formally educated in architecture and anthropology, I cannot believe that I get paid to talk to strangers. After being a volunteer for more than half a decade in Auroville. I now work as an independent designer and illustrator helping creatives and design studios get more eyes on their work.