Sahil Kumar

Sahil Kumar is a contemporary visual artist from Jharkhand, India, whose practice navigates the intersections of mental health, healing, and collective resilience. Rooted in lived experiences of illness, care, and recovery, his work begins from intimate terrains of memory, unspoken gestures, and emotional undercurrents, gradually expanding into broader social and psychological landscapes. Working across drawing, painting, and installation, Sahil employs materials such as charcoal, handmade surfaces, cloth, bandages, light, sound, sensors, and medical or domestic objects. These materials function as living traces of vulnerability and endurance, transforming fragility into sculptural and experiential metaphors of healing. Audience participation and sensory engagement often play a crucial role in his installations, fostering empathy, shared reflection, and dialogue. His work has been exhibited widely across India and has received recognition through awards, fellowships, and institutional selections, including the Immerse Fellowship (2025–26), Kala Sakshi Memorial Trust Residency (2023), and awards from Lalit Kala Akademi, Indian Academy of Fine Arts, and Eastern Foundation of Art and Culture. Through his evolving practice, Sahil seeks to create accessible spaces for hope, solidarity, and shared humanity.

Academics

MFA in contemporary multidisciplinary arts from Shiv Nadar University, Delhi NCR  (2023- 2025)

BFA in Painting from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh (2019-2023)

Awards

Gold Medal & 27 Art Point Award, 27 Art Point in 2024

3rd Prize, National Annual Art Competition, Ravi Paranjape Foundation, Pune in 2023

Best Exhibit by National Lalit Kala Exhibition, Indore in 2023

Best Artwork Award, Ambedkar Fine Art Research Foundation, Nagpur in 2022

Best Realistic work, 27 art point award, by 27 art point in 2022

Highly commanded Award for Painting by Eastern foundation of Art and Culture, Jodhpur in 2022