Purnima Sampat · Contemporary Artist · Mumbai
Held in the Trace
New work, 2026
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Held in the Trace
Memory gathers in fragments — through impressions, surfaces, marks and the traces of what has been. Held in the Trace considers the space between presence and absence, and the ways memory continues to inhabit the present.
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The Holding Body IV, 2026
The Practice
I begin with looking.
The work develops through observation, accumulation and erasure. I work with paint, drawing, impressions and found traces, allowing the surface to gather and reveal itself slowly. What emerges is not a record of a particular place or moment, but something closer to the way memory works — fragmentary, layered and constantly shifting.
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About the Artist
Purnima Sampat
Purnima Sampat is a Mumbai-based artist whose practice spans painting, drawing and mixed media. Her work explores memory, presence and the traces that experience leaves behind, through layered surfaces, botanical impressions, drawing and material intervention.
Read biography →From the Studio
Before I Begin
Sketchbook pages, fragments, things gathered from the garden, materials, thoughts and observations from the studio.
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