Sharmistha Ray, May - June 2026

Sharmistha Ray in front of their painting. Credit: Zachary Riggleman

Sharmistha Ray (they/them) is a visual artist and Estella Loomis McCandless Assistant Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University. Their artistic practice uses modes of abstraction to explore imagery related to Hindu and Buddhist cosmologies, the patterning and ornamentation of South Asian crafts, and sacred architecture in relationship to global modernisms and queer futurity. Working primarily in painting and drawing, they have also made work in sculpture, artist books, and animation.

In addition to their solo work, they co-founded the spiritualist feminist art collective Hilma’s Ghost which acts as a collaborative model for research, artistic production, pedagogy, and community.

Ray’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions and projects internationally at The Guggenheim, New York, NY; The Shepherd, Detroit, MI; The Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ; Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA; The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT; Galería RGR, Mexico City, Mexico; Nature Morte, New Delhi, India; Secrist|Beach, Chicago, IL; and others. Public projects include a permanent 600 square foot glass mosaic installed inside Grand Central Station, New York, NY.

Visit Sharmistha’s website here.