Janhavi Khemka, a hearing-impaired artist from Varanasi, India, credits her late mother as her main artistic inspiration. After losing her mother at age 15, Khemka channeled her experiences and emotions through various mediums including woodcuts and performance art. Her education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Visva-Bharati University contributed to her artistic growth. Despite the support of friends and mentors, she faces challenges with accessibility and often finds herself having to explain her experiences, which can be emotionally draining. Her work addresses the nuances of sound and vibration integral to her identity.
My mother would help me with my school assignments, explaining them through hand gestures, facial expressions, and body language.
The impact she left on me helped me navigate an able-bodied world, further inspiring my art through light, touch, experimental sound, and tactile mediums.
Santiniketan opened a new world for me, as it was my first time being away from home. It helped me grow, understand how my disability shapes my identity.
I still face a lack of accessibility and am constantly self-aware, having to explain my experience to others, which can be exhausting.
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