Shloka Coral Dhar

Email:

s1dhar@ucsd.edu

Website:

https://dharshloka.wixsite.com/studioshlo-3

Pronouns:

she/her/hers

Biography:

Shloka Dhar (born 1999, Bokaro Steel City, India) is an artist/scientist whose work explores ideas of genetic memory, the effect of trauma on the body, both mental and physical, preservation, cultural loss, physical displacement, and genocide. To access these ideas, she uses traditional Indian women’s textiles with an extensive cultural history and a memory shaped by previous wearers.

Her research on the theory of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance informs her work. This theory proposes that trauma can leave a genetic imprint, allowing memories to be inherited through generations. Her research on muscle stem cell regeneration also considers the effect of trauma on cellular memory. When muscle undergoes injury, muscle stem cells fuse to the center of the fiber to facilitate regeneration and remain there as a scar. Through her art, she can visually understand the nature and extent of the psychological pain and intergenerational trauma in her body.

As an artist of the diaspora, she gathers broken stories and sews them together to repair the breakage. There are parallels between the cellular regeneration process and working with the materials. The materials aren't just illustrative of a biological process, they are the salve that attempts to repair genetic breaks and mutations and bridge a severed generational link.

She holds a BA in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and a BFA in Sculpture and Post-Studio Practices from the University of Colorado Boulder.