Sayan Chanda reimagines votive objects, folk divinities, and mythic narratives as hybrid, ambiguous forms through the lens of identity, gender perception, and postcolonial theory. Working intuitively with fibre and clay through weaving, stitching, quilting, dyeing, and hand-building, he makes work that occupies a speculative landscape untethered from place, culture, and period.

He’s interested in the idea of domesticity, hence, there is an element of defence and protection that permeates through his work. His references and materials are as much domestic as they are communal. He works with vintage quilts from Bengal, tearing them into strips, dyeing them and weaving them along with handwoven cotton, wool, jute and sisal.

Born in Kolkata, India, Sayan lives and works in London. He studied Fine Art at Camberwell College of Arts, London and textiles at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

His work has been shown internationally at solo and group shows, including: Jhaveri Contemporary (2022); South London Gallery (2021); Nature Morte (2021); Green Art Gallery (2024); British Textile Biennial (2023) and Frieze London (2022,2024). He has participated in residencies at Thread, run by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Senegal (2023), and the Sarabande Foundation, London (2023).

Following an open call for applications in Autumn 2022, Sayan Chanda was awarded an 8-week funded residency. Cove Park’s programme of awarded residencies supports research, the development of existing and new projects, collaboration, interdisciplinary practice, and the production of new work and ideas. All national and international artists, cultural practitioners, and researchers—working individually and collaboratively in all art forms, in the creative industries, and across disciplines—were eligible to apply. Cove Park’s residencies also support individuals at every stage in their careers.