Sarana Mehra is a multidisciplinary artist whose work stems from long standing research into historic and extant systems of language, technology, and institutions for medicine and belief. As a disabled person who’s very existence has relied upon almost constant medical interventions, many experimental, much of Sarana’s existence has been lived on the cutting edge of human progress. The knowledge that existence at an earlier time in history (even by a year) would have been untenable has lead to extensive research into medical history of which she sees herself a part, but the ever cyclical nature of human progress.
Drawing on the imaging and stories of Eastern and Western mythologies of her heritage, and the artifacts of past civilizations gathering dust in our museums, Sarana uses her practice to examine a “future relic”. These relics explore contemporary language - symbols like emoji or our use of technology to record the everyday. It is impossible not to look at these as a participant in late-stage capitalism and with the widely held belief that humans face climate catastrophe and possible annihilation. Just like the markings on tablets or friezes that survive from ancient cultures our own language and symbology will face ruin and mystification. Therefore, each piece, like the remnants of our ancestors, leaves clues and symbols but ultimately obfuscates their contemporary use and ritual.
Most recently, Sarana’s work has explored the ancient and contemporary use of anatomical votives and milagros. These objects hover somewhere between medical and spiritual and are universal symbols of private suffering. Stemming from her own lived experience as a “sick person” Sarana investigates the fine line between science and belief, acknowledging that despite our monumental scientific and medical advancements, the unease of disease still pulls at the threads of civilization.
Sarana Mehra is bi-racial British-American artist born in London to an English mother and immigrant South Asian father. and has lived between the US and UK for much of her life.
Sarana identifies as bisexual/pansexual and her pronouns are she/her.
Sarana is a co-founder and Media Director of Artists 4 Democracy, a progressive grassroots activist organization. Sarana is also a member of the Binder of Women artist collective based in Los Angeles.
Sarana earned her BFA from the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art at the University of Oxford & her MFA from Central Saint Martins’ in London, UK. The artist lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.