Self Portrait.(2008)
Acrylic on Canvas
14.8 x 21 cm

Artist Statement

I am a London based Artist working under the titles of Tajinder Dhami & Stanthers Ink. My work spans the forms of Animation, Micro-stages, Installation, Objects, and Drawings. My practice engages with exotic forms of transcendentalism and spirituality, exploring how these may function and manifest within an artists practice.

I explore points of departure, subtle objects, essences, ascension, and the processes of seeking on a spiritual path encapsulated within the world. This then involves navigating the earthly polarities to spiritual being, visible within divisionalism, and historical hegemonies.

Working predominately with references to Animation techniques and processes, I play with its qualities of — time, space, movement, and attention, to render markers on this path. In all my works I attempt to encode residues of gesture, and fruitful seeds of flowering.

Oneness.
                                                                                                                               

Personal Statement

I began using Animation as my Artist's material around 1999. Following, I continue to make this work. Through my Practice I walk the line and trust my deeper connections to provide and guide.

When I was younger, a Niner came to visit, He stayed for 6 months. As I was the youngest and wore a joora, he treated me as one of his favourites. He used to tell everyone that "He is our Stanther", after the formidable Sikh freedom fighter Tajinder Singh Stanther. The Niner had achieved and was able to access the Siddhis and beyond. He taught me how to meditate, and how one may move into wider spaces. His sangat wrote a book documenting his miracles.

When a Niner makes a statement, it's best to follow. On this spiritual journey, I chose to encode-delay-relay this seeking through my Arts practice, using animation as my artist's material. 

As a material it is a composite of all other artforms. It feels ancient. It shares its roots with cinema at the Greek stage, and in even earlier forms of oral storytelling. Whilst cinema relies on the real, animation roams freely in the imagination. It feels like a limitless artform. With animation, we can build worlds from the ground up.

As an artist, I love its ability to simultaneously hold the weight of Philosophy, and the joyful familiarity of the saturday morning cartoon. I feel an affinity to how, many Animators bring an original style to each work they make. I play with that fluidlty as I make work in different forms through different processes. I make work in collections, and in occasional series.

This ongoing archive of work began with two simple questions, which have led to Spirituality & Hegemony being the core two contexts I make work around. 

Stanther translates as freedom fighter, Art is my sword.

Blessings. 

Paperwork.

Mphil   Queen Mary, University of London. London
Mphil   (RCA) Royal College of Art. London
M.A      (Distinction) National Center for Computer Animation. Bournemouth
B.A       Fine Art. Leeds Metropoloitan University. Leeds
           

Selected Recent Activities.

2026     The Civilisations. St Margarets Chapel. Bethnal Green. London (Show)
             Collective Voices . JustArt, White Space Gallery, Edinburgh (Group Show)
             States of Uncertainty. hARTSlane gallery. London (Group Show)
             Sleepy Eyes Film Festival.The Hague. Netherlands (Outdoor screening)
             No Space. Skot Collective, Eagle Works. Sheffield (Group Show)
             Wu Wei. Master Tsu Tai Chi Chaun Academy (Design & Motion Graphics)

2025     Minatures. 13b Gallery. Slovenia (Group Show)
             More Carnage. Asycd (Online Group Show) 
             Celebrating our Strength in our Diversity Art. Doncaster Art Fair. Uk
             Imagined Worlds, Deptford Lounge. London (Group Show)
             The Wrong Biennale.Embassy at Linda de la Art Center.Moscow, Russia.  (Group Show)
             Artworks Open 2025. Barbican Arts Group Trust. London (Group Shpw)
             Civilzation. Window Gallery, Bombfactory. Holborn. London (Show)
             Hypernormalisation. Uncovered Collective. Safe house. London (Group Show)
             Hide Me, Steal Me, Be Nice to Me. Arthall, Gozo, Malta (Group Show)
             Fringe Arts Bath. Bath. UK (Poster)
             24FRAME Future Film Fest, Bologna, Italy (Screening)
             Lift Off. Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire.UK (Screening)
            TaxiFilmFest. Berlin. Germany (Screening)
           
2024    One Nation Under a Groove. Bomb Factory, Marleybone. London (Group Show)
            Tribute to our Future Silicone Overlords. Uncovered Collective. Safe House. London (Group Show)
            2024 Space Oddities. Phantasmal Gallery. (Online Group Show)
            We Are Hyde Park. Left Bank. Leeds (Group Show)
            Top 25 : Exceptional Leader in Animation. 3rd Gaming and Animation Confex, Amsterdam, Holland (Award)
            Secret Salon Projekt. Safe House 2, London.(Group Show)
            Hide Me, Steal Me, Be Nice to Me, Art Centre Caravel / ARTE.M Madeira, Portugal (Group show)
            Metamorphosis, Cista Arts, London (Online Group Show)
            Chewin' The Fat Volume Two, Chewboy Productions, London (Publication)

2023    Oversounds, Roseberry Road Studios Bath (Group Show)
            Derelict, Safe House 1&2, London.(Group Show)
            Sculptura. Fox Yard Studio/ Gallery, Stowmarket (Group Show)
            101 contemporary Artists and more... Vol 4. Tblisi. Georgia (Publication)
            ClimateProv. Be Fantastic Festival. Banglore International Centre.India  (Performance)
            ClimateProv. La La Land Festival. Ruigoord, Amsterdam. Holland (Performance)
            Be Fantastic. Future Sikhi - Bibi Nirmal Kaur. Ranga Shankara. India (Interactive conversational AI )
            ArtsFest-Black Arts Gathering. Wolverhampton University. Wolverhampton (Group Show)
            Sweet Tooth. Seagar Gallery. London (Group Show - Forthcoming)

2022    BeFantastic Within. BeFantastic & Future Everything. Bangalore, India. (AI & Performing Arts Fellowship)
            Graphics. LCB Depot. Leicester. (Screening)
            Quiet Little Paki. Various. London (Wall Work)

2019     University of London (Graphics/ Motion Graphics)

2018     Moov TV. London (Motion Graphics)
             Ambient Sounds. London (Experimental Ambient Set)

2017     SAGE  Publications GDP. USA (Freelance Motion Graphics)
             Human Hotel. Copenhangen (Screening)
             Fireside. Abottshill. London (Experimental Ambient Set)

2016    Something's Not Quiet Right With Grandma. NHS Trust  & Artlift (Animation & Direction)
            SAGE Video Platform. SAGE Publications  (Motion Graphics)
            Wisdom. Wisdom House. London. (Animation & Motion Graphics)
            Salon des Refuses. OTTAWA International Animation Festival. Canada
           
2015     Natty and the Rebel ship. I’m Alive. Vibes & Pressure Records (Animation & Mograph)
             Punch. Espacio Gallery. London (group show)
             Videotheque. Agora, Animasyros. Greece. (database)
             Dark Night. Animaee Caribe Animation Festival. Trindad & Tabago (screening)

2014    Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2014. World Museum, Liverpool ; ICA, London & The Exchange,
            Penzance  (group show)
            DOTMOV 2014 Festival . (Shift Magazine). Japan. & Touring Various Countries . (group screening)
            SE23dotMov. Canvas & Cream. London & The Montage. London (group show)
            PuntoYraya Festival . Reykjavík. Iceland (Screening)
            House of Voodoo. Folkestone Quarterhouse. Folkestone. (Screening)

2011     Holography. Advanced Industrial Placement. Seeper. London (Research Project)

2010    Spark Festival of Electronic Music & Arts, Minneapolis. USA (group show)
            Multichannel: Variable Economies. Artsway. Sway (Group Show)
            Something I Said, Spoken Word Festival. Southbank Centre. London (Animation Graphics)           
            MacLab. MAC . Birmingham (Residency)
            J Street. The Bristol Museum. (Group show)
            On Cirencester. (Animation Workshops)
            The Bhangra Project. Yate. (Project Manager/ Curation)

2009    Oscillations. Station Gallery. Bristol (Solo Show)
            DJ Tubbs featuring Joe Duckie. New Way of Life. Exceptional Records. (Director)
            Proud to be Different. Art Shape/ GARAS. Gloucester (Residency)
            State of Art . Glastonbury Festival (Co-Curator & Group show)
            Warning. Outpost. Norwich (Audio Paper. artist radio/ trade union)
            PTBD. St Michael's tower. Gloucester (Group Show)
            Redfest. Bristol. (Experimental Live Web Curation)

2008   Soho Road to the Punjab. Punch Records/ AAA. Bristol (Curator / Champion )
            Reach. Bristol (AAA Animation Workshops)
            Zoon Van Snook. Bibliophone. Cookshop Records. (Director)
            String Theory. Spike Island Test Space. Bristol. (Solo Show)
            Animated Exeter . Phoenix . Exeter ( screening )
            Spike Open. Spike Island. Bristol (Studio Holders show)
            Emerge and See. Berlin (paper presentation)
            Atom. Custard Factory. Birmingham ( live performance )
            Contact. Spike island associates space. bristol ( live performance )


2007   Step Online. Watershed/Asian Arts Agency. Bristol (Online group show)
            Jamaica Street Studio Open. Bristol (Group Show)
            Independence Stories. British Empire & Commonwealth Museum Bristol. (Digital History Film workshops)
            Venn festival. Arnolfini . Bristol (Screening)
            Exposures. Manchester (Screening)


Lives & Works | London

Likes | Sun Ra & Niners



                  
                                   " You dont have to be an LCD if you don't want to be one ! " (Dr S. Bell 1999.)