Dan/Daniel/Daljit (he/him)
Born 1970.
Lives and works in Birmingham, UK.
Artist Statement
My creative practice explores how we communicate and connect with one another, driven by an internal exploration of my own emotional and physical boundaries in relation to my identity and my life-long invisible health condition. I always start with informal conversations, along with initial drawings, mark-making, and creative writing.
I tend to develop a body of work in collaboration with other artists, curators, and writers. In the past, I’ve set up live, durational situations intended to disrupt and displace our experience of what we’re observing within an exhibition setting, treating exhibition-making as a medium itself. These projects (gallery, off-site and online) involve experimentation with performance, participation, and intervention, often blending drawing, text, spoken word, sound, and video into collaborative live performances and exhibitions. Through these creative group artist as curator projects, I engage artists and audiences alike in the creative process through intervention and response.
Recently, my practice has shifted to focus more deeply on my lived experiences around identity, belonging, isolation, ageing, and on grief and grieving. My research is centered on self-compassion—exploring self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness—as well as neuroplasticity in relation to mental health and wellbeing. This shift has guided me to use creativity as a form of self-care and wellbeing and healing.