BIO

Shyam Nasira Persaud (pronounced sharm nas-eer-rah puh-sard) is an artist, producer and NHS employee. She was born in London, UK, where she lives and works.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I perceive the world as intelligent, responsive and intimately interconnected, extending far beyond the physical and visible. Through the lenses of Jungian psychology, psychoanalysis and Yogic philosophy, I explore the experience of living within a Western late capitalist society, where its specific socioeconomic system requires specific social relations. Drawing on the Hermetic saying as above, so below, I understand external occurrences as linked to internal ones, most actively outside conscious awareness. The circle as a symbol of the portal bridging this connection is a constant presence in my work.

I work across a range of media that include drawing. writing and participation, employing research alongside such inner practices as dream analysis.

Previous works include: a nursery refurbishment within a Peruvian prison in collaboration with inmates, for the toddlers who live there; translation of doctors’ letters into recordings of bluegrass country songs; live performance by opera singers of a ‘sung sorrow’; a 3D surround-sound installation of a prayer, sung as a 7-part motet; an eight-month long weekly ritual of writing quotes on an NHS office whiteboard, enlisted as a portal to the collective unconscious - one quote prompted a staff member to resign in pursuit of their creative dream.

CV

EDUCATION

BA (Hons) Fine Art Sculpture, University of the Arts London

MSc Counselling Studies (distinction), The University of Edinburgh

BSc (Hons) Physiology, The University of Manchester

PRODUCTION

2023: British Council-funded delegation visit to London for a group of disabled artists and non-disabled allies from Jordan and Palestine (Shubbak Festival).

October 2010 - January 2011: Yanamilla Prison, Ayacucho, Peru. Self-directed collaboration with inmates, supported by Maki International, to refurbish a nursery and paint a mural.

EXHIBITIONS

2008: Degree Show (group exhibition), Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts London

2008: The Nothing and the Nothingness – a Happening by Matthew Lee Knowles, Louise T. Blouin Institute, London

2007: There Will Never Be Another Time (group exhibition), Aida Street Gallery, London

2007: Park 07 (group exhibition), Cannizaro Park, London

2007: Knitting Circle (collaborative exhibition), South Wimbledon Underground station, London

CURATION

2007: Half Seen (group exhibition), La Viande Gallery, London. Sponsored by J. Lindeberg.

COMMISSIONS

2007: Knitting Circle, South Wimbledon tube station, London, UK, commissioned by Art on the Underground (formerly Platform for Art) - lead on collaborative project between Wimbledon College of Art students and Morden Women's Institute.