Diya Mathur (b. 1997, India) is an artist based in Naarm whose practice explores the transgenerational effects of historical dislocation on collective and personal identity. Using material metaphors, Mathur investigates the liminal spaces between care and violence, rigidity and fluidity, and belonging and estrangement. Her work unravels the ways in which remnants of colonial histories and oppressive power structures shape contemporary understandings of identity.

Employing culturally significant pigments, domestic objects, and textiles, Mathur’s self-reflexive approach engages with the interplay of past and present. The materials she chooses—rich with cultural provenance from the Indian subcontinent—are sourced from domestic settings, ritual practices, and craft traditions. Through art making, these materials serve as active agents in meaning-making, fostering dialogue around shared experiences of migration, identity, and belonging.

I acknowledge and pay respect to the Wurundjeri people who are the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work in Naarm Melbourne. I pay respect to elders past, present and emerging of the Kulin Nation.