Born in 1993 in Varanasi, Janhavi Khemka is an interdisciplinary artist in India and Chicago. As a hearing-impaired person, she had found it difficult to express her innermost reflections through spoken language. At the age of 15, her mother passed away from cancer. Her mother was her link to communicating with the outside world. Her mother’s technique created limits, barring her from learning sign language, while emphasizing on lip reading. She had to learn to negotiate the world around her on her own. Art has helped her search for meaning in more intimate acts—her hands, their relationship to the world, her sight, and her ability to touch.
As a cross-disciplinary artist, she creates paper sculptures, prints, animation, and performances based on her life experiences. Her practice is focused on finding ways to translate her perception. Therefore, most of her works are rooted personally, both mental and physical. Most recently, her practice has extended to environments-based installation and vibrational materials. She invites the viewer to experience her perception of the world, devoid of aural stimulation.