Jagannath Panda

Painter and sculptor Jagannath Panda documents the ever-growing tension brought by social change in his mixed media art works by mixing mythology with reality.

Anchored by: Diksha Jawle
Photographs: courtesy the artist

Painter and sculptor Jagannath Panda is known for exploring the concerns of globalisation and rapid development through his mixed media art works by often humanising animals as his subjects. Born in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, he completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts from BK College of Art and Crafts, and Masters in Sculpture from the MS University of Baroda, Gujarat. He further pursued an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, London. During his years of learning, Jaganaath exhibited solo shows in Tokyo, London, Berlin and San Francisco, Mumbai and New Delhi, and has been honoured with a handful of prestigious awards.

His earliest works showcase an experimentation of different media on paper, mixing collage and drawing techniques which observed the socio-political situations in contemporary India. On moving to Gurugram, Jaganaath started focusing on opposing elements such as nature and man, and modern and traditional in an objective way by drawing inspiration from personal experiences. His paintings reflect the divergence we face on a daily basis alongside mass migration leading to urbanisation, thereby resulting crowd and displacement of life. To stress upon the reality of his subject, Jagannath also employs the use of external materials such as silver foil, thread, and tracing sheets in his sculptural installations and landscape paintings.

Email: jpanda08@gmail.com