Saroj Patel

Finishing off the the small details within my sculptures before install. These small water vessels each hold nine fabric seeds. Made from cloth and dipped in resin, they represent the Navagrahas, the nine planetary influences in Hindu tradition. Inspired by Supari (Areca Nut), which are used in rituals. I was always amazed how something so small and simple could evoke the power of planets. Not long now. Matrika: She Who Makes Worlds opens at New Art Exchange, Nottingham, 22 May. @new_art_exchange @david_sinclair_1965 #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt #Sculpture #TextileArt #BritishIndianArtist

I’m really looking forward to sharing more about my work at an upcoming artist talk for my solo exhibition Matrika: She Who Makes Worlds Join me on Saturday 23 May at @new_art_exchange , where I’ll be talking through the exhibition of new installations, paintings, and sculptural works, alongside the research, processes, and ideas that have shaped the show. I’ll also be sharing more about a recent residency in my father’s ancestral village in India, and how that experience has informed the work. The exhibition has developed over the past year through lots of experimentation, learning, and exploring new mediums. I’ll be sharing work that hasn’t been shown before, and opening up the process behind how the work was made. There will be time for questions and conversation afterwards. I would love to see you there. Artist Talk Saturday 23 May 2026 11am – 12.30pm New Art Exchange, Nottingham @new_art_exchange @david_sinclair_1965 #contemporaryart #artisttalk #newartexchange #studiopractice #soloexhibition

I’m really excited to share my upcoming solo exhibition, Matrika: She Who Makes Worlds, opening this May at @new_art_exchange , curated by @david_sinclair_1965 The exhibition unfolds as an immersive installation of new sculptures, paintings, textiles, and sound. The work moves through cyclical time, holding embodied histories, ancestral memory, and unfolding futures. Drawing on Indian mythology and cosmology, the work considers how past, present, and future might coexist. Some works are informed by a residency in my father’s ancestral village in India, grounding the work in place, memory, and lineage. Developed through repetition, layering, and accumulation, making becomes a way of thinking through these ideas. Please come along to the Private View ✨ It would be wonderful to see you there. Private View: Friday 22 May, 6–9pm Artist Talk: Saturday 23 May, 11am–12:30pm Exhibition: 22 May – 12 September 2026 Venue: Mezzanine Gallery, New Art Exchange, Nottingham #contemporaryart #soloexhibition #nottingham #textileinstallation #painting

I’m having a full week immersed in my studio. Adam took the girls to Yorkshire so I could focus on getting work finished for my upcoming solo show at @new_art_exchange , opening on 22nd May. I’ve been able to spend full days in the studio - day and night - thinking, experimenting, sketching, paintings and finishing off sculptures. It’s rare to have this kind of uninterrupted time, and it’s reminded me how important it is to be fully immersed in the work. Feeling very thankful for time. Thank you @belly2001 #contemporaryart #studiopractice #processbased #materialpractice #soloexhibition

Feeling incredibly grateful to be part of Troublemakers and Prophets: Elizabeth Allen and Other Visionary Artists at @compton_verney which opens on Saturday 28th March. PV is Thursday 26th March 6-8pm. My sculpture Tridevi: Creator, Preserver and Destroyer is showing alongside such an inspiring group of artists — Elizabeth Allen, Eleanor May Watson, Helen Chadwick, George Storm Fletcher, Lou Lou Sainsbury, Grace Currie (Magic Artist), Uma Breakdown, Louise Odes Neaderland, Lily van Oost, Sian Newlove-Drew, Jesse Jones, Penny Slinger, Mireille Delice, Suzanne Treister, Rebecca Nassauer, Grace Ndiritu, Aradne and the Rita Keegan Archive Project. The exhibition brings together visionary artists who turn fragments of everyday life into something fantastical, urgent and reflective - exploring art, isolation and extraordinary ways of seeing. Across four rooms, bold and deeply personal works sit in dialogue, shaped by conviction, imagination and lived experience. It feels very special to be in conversation with practices that challenge, reimagine and expand how we understand the world. Thank you so much @ilacolley for including me in this exhibition. On view: Saturday 28 March – Monday 31 August 2026 📍 Compton Verney #ComptonVerney #ContemporaryArt #Sculpture #TextileArt #WomenArtists

A Common Thread is now open at the Lethaby Gallery until 26th April. You can see works from my Ocean Mother series as part of this group exhibition celebrating a hands-on relationship with materials and making, from ancestral knowledge to emerging technologies, rooted in urgent political and environmental realities. Open Wed–Fri 11am–6pm Sat–Sun 12–5pm Closed Mon & Tues Come and spend some time with the work Curated by @jinliiang #ACommonThread #OceanMother #TextileArt #MaterialKnowledge #lethabygallery

The Water Carrier The installation centres on the Lota, a metal vessel found in every household in Sagra. Made from brass or mixed metals, the lota is a vital domestic object, used daily for collecting water, cooking, washing, and ritual. Its significance lies in use rather than ornament: it is shaped for hands, lifted, carried, and poured countless times, becoming an extension of the women’s labour. The women of Sagra work primarily in the fields as well as sustaining their homes. Their strength is physical and enduring, formed through years of agricultural and domestic work. The lota holds a quiet femininity. Its rounded curves suggest softness and care, while the strength of the metal speaks to endurance. As a vessel for water, it also carries meanings of life, purity, and renewal. Water is gathered, protected, and shared, a daily act of responsibility that sustains both family and community. Through collective making, the lota becomes a symbolic gesture of recognition: a reflection of the women of Sagra as carriers of life, knowledge, and quiet power, whose labour forms the foundation of everyday life. Thank you to @david_sinclair_1965 and @new_art_exchange for this incredible opportunity which will support my upcoming solo show 💜🙏🏽 Thank you to my parents who collaborated and supported me to bring this project to life in sagra - it wouldn’t have happened without and I am so happy to be able to have done this with you both. Thank you to Dipak, Riya, Kusumkaki, Savatrikaki and Lala for your generosity, support and time. I am very grateful and hope we can do this again in the future t a bigger scale! Thank you to all the women who came and spent time to make their lotas, it really was such a joy and privilege to be able to spend time with you all. 💜🙏🏽 And finally thank you to Adam, none of this would have happened without you. All my dreams are made possible because of your support, generosity and kindness. I am grateful beyond words, you really are the most amazing human and the most incredible father to our girls! 💜💜 #textileinstallation

Over two days, the studio became a shared space of gathering, where women came together to step out of their daily routines and engage their hands and minds in a different way. The studio held many kinds of moments: conversation and laughter, shared stories, and also quiet periods of deep focus. There were times of working alone while still being together, a collective silence that felt profound and full of presence. It was within these moments that the work held its greatest power. Ideas were exchanged freely, hands helped one another, and a strong sense of pride emerged as each woman completed her Lota. Finished works were shared, held up, and placed alongside others, where individual pieces became part of a growing whole. What began as personal acts of making slowly transformed into a collective installation, reflecting the rhythms of village life itself, where individual labour sustains the community. For me, being in the studio with the women created a connection beyond language. Making together formed a different kind of understanding, one built through gesture, repetition, touch, and shared attention. For those two days, distinctions of background, role, or identity fell away. We were simply a collective, working side by side towards one shared artwork. #studio #residency @new_art_exchange #india @david_sinclair_1965

I have just returned from an incredible two-week residency in Gujarat, India, undertaken in support of my upcoming solo exhibition at @new_art_exchange Nottingham, in May 2026. I was based in my ancestral home in the village of Sagra, where I spent time with the women of the village. I have known some of these women since childhood, and this residency offered an opportunity to connect with them in a deeper and more intentional way than before. I spent time in their homes, working alongside them, observing, talking, and sharing food. The residency allowed me to slow down and experience life through the senses, embracing the quiet moments and the slower rhythm of village life. It was also a time of making together, creating connections through shared space, laughter, learning, listening, and being present. I was given time and space to reflect, learning about others and myself. While language enables storytelling, it was the moments beyond words, the gestures, movements, sounds, and stillness that spoke most powerfully to me. The residency felt both grounding and expansive, opening space for deeper connection, reflection, and belonging. #residency #gujarat #artist #villagelife #newartexchange

New works in progress. Last few weeks in the studio before the twins break up for the holidays. I have really been enjoying these last couple of months of experimentation. #circle #navagraha #beginnings #connected

It’s been an absolute joy doing workshops with @playwithclay_by_kashmira and learning from her. Thank you Kashmira for all your time and generosity - it’s been so wonderful spending time in your studio. I’ve loved making my little sculptures and learning about clay and glazes. I’m looking forward to experimenting more and incorporating them with my textiles. Also thank you for making the most delicious lunches! #cermaics #sculpture #experiential #play

Fragmented Constellation, a new piece of work currently showing at @harris_museum as part of my Ocean Mother exhibition. #textileart #sari #vintagesari #indiaink #heritage #southasianwomen