TANIA SEN

Tania Sen began her artistic journey at the age of four while confined to a hospital bed in a remote small town in Bihar, India, due to a misdiagnosis of diphtheria. From an early age, she dreamed of making art. After losing her father during her teenage years, she took on the responsibility of supporting her family, which included a younger brother and a stay-at-home mother.

Tania pursued undergraduate studies at Calcutta University, graduating with Honors in English, and subsequently worked as a publicity professional writing press releases for Indian Railways. She later qualified for an academic scholarship at New York University, which marked a turning point in her life. Taking a leap of faith, she moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies.

In New York, she began her career in the advertising industry as an art director, a profession that allowed her to combine creativity with earning a living. After over two decades in the New York advertising industry, Tania transitioned to teaching and art therapy in 2001. She taught Advertising Design at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ, and practiced art therapy with autistic children at the Morris Union Jointure Commission in Warren, NJ.

She embraced fine arts as a second lease on life while living in the United States, far from her birthplace of Kolkata, India. Her work has been showcased at numerous prestigious venues, including the Newark Museum (NJ), The Royal Scottish Academy, Tate (UK), Mumbai Museum (India), Contemporary Art Museum in South Korea, Torpedo Art Factory, Monmouth Museum (NJ), Haggin Museum (CA), Lalit Kala Academy (India), Feminist Art Project, GoggleWorks, Prince Street Gallery, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (NYC), and Liberty Museum (PA).

As a founding member of SIPMA Contemporary, Tania curated several interdisciplinary art exhibits. She also collaborated on experimental dance and art projects at Swarthmore College and engaged in performance art at the Soho 20 Gallery in New York City.

Tania Sen’s work explores the tension between iconic unity and digital fuzziness, investigating the decay of the original and its reproduction. Her *"Death of an Icon"* series delves into Hyperreality, a heightened version of reality constructed through models and simulations.

In her series *"Precious Possessions"*, Tania reflects on Walter Benjamin’s theory of the “aura,” highlighting the conflict between the authenticity of the original and its reproduced copies.

Her AI-driven projects further probe the entanglement of reality and representation, portraying a fragmented landscape where reality diminishes, leaving only scattered remnants behind. This work aligns with the "Map vs. Territory" concept, capturing a world where the boundaries between the real and its representation dissolve.