Sharmi Chowdhury (b. 1974 Kolkata, India) completed her Bachelors in Fine Arts (Painting) from Kala Bhavana, Viswa-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, West Bengal in 2003, and Masters in Fine Arts (Painting) from the Maharaja Sayajirao University. Vadodara. Gujarat in 2005. For over a decade, the use of paper, silk and natural colours has predominantly figured into her practice. While attending the Korea | Asia Pacific Artists Fellowship Residency program at the National Art Studio, Chang Dong, South Korea, in 2012, she began working with paper as the primary medium. Consequently, she learnt the traditional Korean Hanji paper-making method from a local paper-making workshop in downtown Seoul, South Korea. Further, she also learnt traditional Korean paper doll-making from a renowned traditional woman artist during a residency in Jeonju, a paper craftsman village in South Korea in 2014. Her experiences with traditional Korean paper art and influences such as Binod Bihari Mukharjee’s traditional way of using the material shaped the trajectory of her artistic practice.
She thinks of the material as primary and believes that ideas follow through what we encounter in our daily life experiences. Her solo exhibitions include When Image Speaks Back II, Veda Art Gallery (Chennai, 2017), When Image Speaks Back I, Art Alive Gallery (New Delhi, 2008) etc. Her selected group exhibitions include Agradoot, Art Alive Gallery (New Delhi, 2023), Yeosu International Art Festival, South Korea (Yeosu, 2012) and several editions of the India Art Fair with Veda Art Gallery, Chennai (New Delhi, 2017-2024), among others. Sharmi lives and works in Vadodara, India.