Dhananjay Singh
Dhananjay Singh was born in 1977 in Hajipur, Bihar. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in sculpture from the Faculty of Visual Arts of Banaras Hindu University, followed by a Master’s degree in the same from the M.S. University, Baroda. Singh also briefly served as a visiting member of faculty at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Gandhinagar. Singh has won many awards and scholarships including the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Award, London, in 2005; the INLAKS Fine Art award, New Delhi, in 2005; the National Lalit Kala Akademi Award, New Delhi, in 2002; and a Gold Medal from Banaras Hindu University, in 2000. In 2006, Singh was selected by the Commonwealth Foundation to participate in a residency program at the Faculty of Art and Design at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. During his stay in Melbourne, Singh witnessed the skillful use of bronze by his co-students and lecturers. This inspired him to experiment with the same technique, and eventually lead to the establishment of his own unique sculptural practice involving building figures out of intricately twined bronze and copper wires. The artist also successfully translated the fragility of this technique to his drawings and watercolours, in which human figures composed of complex networks of tendrils float mysteriously across the surface.