Santa Fe Art Institute

Janaki Ranpura

Janaki Ranpura combines object-making, performance, and engineering to build spaces to consider potential futures. Her practice explores two primary questions: how do we embody our experiences, and to what degree does our awareness of the present moment impact the future?

Born in 1977 in Columbus, Ohio, the artist belongs to a tradition of spatial practice exemplified by Olafur Eliasson, Philippe Parreno, and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. She uses material objects to stir the psyche. Recent works include a screen sequence in Times Square using data collection to catalog the suppressed longings of 2020; a two-story building experienced as a journey from fear to recovery on a frozen lake; and a monument to noses that questions connections between beauty and health. Her work has appeared in the Victoria & Albert Museum and Walker Art Center and has received awards from Tala Lighting and the Helen Hamlyn Center for Inclusive Design, as well as fellowships from the Santa Fe Art Institute and MacDowell.