Artist statement
Hello, I’m Sri Theyvi and I am a transdisciplinary artist and community worker that is currently settled in Tio’tia:ke (Montréal).
I move through the world as a queer, gender fluid, diaspora Gujarati descendent with studies spanning psychology, studio arts, anthropology and South Asian art & craft traditions.
Through my work, I want to nudge towards a shift in narrative and possibility to those who grew up on rigid stories, turned rules. I believe in working within the communities I serve in order to tell their stories and draw connections. I believe that stories, like truths, are not factual but can serve to shift individual and collective power, inspire healing, and build other worlds challenging the existing greedy power structures.
I work with South Asian mythologies, art and craft traditions, and personal story. I am interested in the ways that these relate to individual stories and practices, and the spaces in which these overlap and divert to form collective consciousness. I am interested in challenging the normative narratives to instead offer up a Shakti-centered retelling. I refer to the past to understand the present to imagine the future. I dig down into my lineage as an anchoring for our collective liberation and ascension. In these ways, traditions are embodied and divinity is brought to Earth. I look to these other worlds as a source of imagination for what we can create.
I exist because you do; this means that I understand the Self as embedded within the greater collective, to whom I am humbly devoted to.
ARTIST CV
Artist bio
My practice plays primarily with painting, relief printmaking, and textile work. I work on my craft in my studio while connecting with the local community at art shows and markets. I also enjoy facilitating art spaces for community art projects, for example a collaborative mural with Centre des Femmes de Laval (2025) and creative workshops with O3: On Our Own (2026). I’ve participated in a number of group shows, notably with Projet Marquage PAAL Montreal (2023), Fruition (2023), No Borders (New York, 2023). I am the recipient of the Rana Bose Memorial Grant from Montreal Serai (2026). Grounded in South Asian folk art, I hope to uncover stories from my lineages that have been buried, to offer them back to my communities. You can keep up with my ongoing work on Instagram or my website.
*South Asian
I want to acknowledge that when I say “South Asian” I am referring to the geographic region known through art history and folk tradition. I want to highlight that South Asia is made up of a myriad of cultures, religions, traditions, ethnic and tribal groups, languages, that overlap and interplay to create what is often referred to as “South Asian”. I strive to celebrate and acknowledge this, by doing the work to research and name where the inspirations and practices come from, rather than contribute to the agglomeration of identity that is often understood when we say “South Asian”.
