Bio: Shanny Kohli is a self-taught visual artist based in Durham, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband and three sons. She was born in New Delhi, India but spent most of her childhood in Kuwait. She fled Kuwait with her family during the Iraqi invasion in 1990 and resettled in Iran and India for two years. Eventually, she moved with her family to Dubai, UAE, where she spent her young adult life. Shanny attended the American University of Sharjah, where she earned a bachelor’s in Visual Communications. She worked as a graphic designer in Kuwait for a few years with various international advertising agencies before immigrating to the United States in 2009.

Shanny explores everyday life in a Sikh diasporic household employing visual methodologies to create artwork based on her multicultural background and immigrant experience to explore identity, inequality, injustice and belonging. The various elements in her pieces create a conduit between tradition and the regeneration of reimagined stories that unfold to express her ancestral spirit.

Shanny had her first solo exhibition featured at Golden Belt Gallery in Durham in 2021. The collection, titled “Exploration of Sikhi,” explored Sikh tenets, which underscore equality, fighting against injustice and uplifting our fellow humans in need, through contemporary interpretation. Her work has also been featured at Durham Art Guild, VAE Raleigh and Art Space Raleigh and in Durham Magazine https://durhammag.com/artist-shanny-kohli-raises-cultural-awareness-through-her-work/ Additionally, Shanny has been interviewed by Canvas Rebel (https://canvasrebel.com/meet-shanny-kohli/) and by ABC 11 News. In 2024, Shanny received the Betsy Sykes Award as the juror’s top pick at the Raleigh Fine Arts Society North Carolina Artists Exhibition for her piece titled “Sharks – Anti-bullying” (https://ralfinearts.org/nc-artists-exhibition-enter/#). Her artwork was selected out of over 1100 submitted pieces and was displayed at the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh during the fall of 2024.

Artist Statement: I am a Durham, NC-based artist who primarily uses watercolor, gouache, ink and digital media. My creative process aims to generate originality in collaboration with design, color, form and narratives expressed on paper. The artwork often portrays themes of personal and collective belonging, exploring the complexities of identity and memory, particularly in relation to my own experiences. The works on paper are impressions of fear, anxiety, togetherness and happiness at the same time. My creative process uplifts narratives of being human while also highlighting the struggles of being a minority. My work embodies life in a common Sikh household. My family and children inspire me and they keep me motivated every day. I love working with watercolors because this medium flows naturally and is not restrictive. I also make my own paints from scratch using earth pigments.

I am grateful to be a part of the artist community in North Carolina.