Originally from India, Kanchana Gupta currently lives and works in Singapore.  Her practice yokes materiality with process and this is both the impetus and structure behind most of her works. The materials which she deploys range from quotidian socially loaded substances like vermillion powder, henna, and sandalwood, to oil paint and canvas, to construction materials like jute and tarpaulin, and gendered textiles / materials like lace and chiffon. Each brings its own particular identity, social symbology, texture, structure and colour, which she manipulates using a combination of studio and industrial processes irreversibly altering the inherent properties and contexts. Her on-going fascination with the materiality of paint has seen her investigate the physicality of the medium in her two-dimensional works, mixed media and sculptural installations. 

Her latest series, 'Open and Close' uses lace as a textile and material to explore the intricate relationships between lace and gender identity as well as the gender politics surrounding its materiality, patterns, and its emergence as a fabric that sexualizes and eroticizes the female form. Lace has often conveyed issues of gender and sexuality in art throughout its history. Its origins with virgin nuns making it, followed by other women and specifically housewives, symbolize the female labour. As an artist, she finds lace to be a compelling material due to its history of being exclusively crafted by women. It has been instrumental in adorning bodies to convey signals of status, wealth, power, and erotica. In the post-modern era, the construction of lace has evolved to have three significant signifiers: Conceal and Reveal, Adornment, and Fetishism.

Her artistic interests center around the evocative and powerful interplay of lace patterns to captivate and confront the audience, evoking both decorative and uncomfortable sensations on a sensual and visceral level. Her ongoing video explorations extrapolate the absence/presence of the human body which is only subtly alluded to in her earlier works. 

The videos meanwhile confront the trope of received femininity and its expected attributes.

Kanchana received an MA in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of Arts, Singapore where she was the recipient of ‘Dr. Winston Oh Travel Research’ award. She has done five solo exhibitions  including 'Open and Close', Sydney, Australia (2024), 'FOLDED PIERCED STRETCHED', Singapore (2022), '458.32 Square Meters', Singapore (2019), 'Traces and Residues', Richard Koh Fine Art, Singapore (2017) and 'Identity II', Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore (2011) in addition to numerous group exhbitions and art fairs internationally. 

Her works are in institutional and private collections in Singapore, and in private and corporate collections in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, France, Australia and USA. Her work has been included in 'The Sceneries and Portraits of an Era - Featuring the Asia Collection of Benesse Art Site Naoshima' at the Fukutake House Asian Gallery, Shodoshima, Japan and  most recently, she was a finalist in 'The 2024 Sovereign Asian Art Prize’.