Collection: Shailesh Pandit

Shailesh Pandit, a Mumbai-based ceramic artist, has been deeply immersed in the world of clay for over twenty-five years. Sometimes it is the surrounding that motivates me. While accompanying my father Padma-shree awardee B R Pandit to the studio almost for couple of decades, his practice bridges the traditions of Indian pottery and the expressive freedom of contemporary ceramic art.

Shailesh’s technical foundation—shaped through his early education at Pandit Art Ceramics and advanced training with Ray Meeker at Golden Bridge Pottery, Pondicherry—has evolved into a mature exploration of sculptural form, glaze chemistry, and installation-based works. His ceramics embody a harmony between material and metaphor, celebrating clay as both earth and emotion. Drawing from indigenous traditions such as Ayyanar terracottas and modern firing techniques like Raku, Shailesh constructs works that oscillate between function and abstraction.

His surfaces often reveal an elemental dialogue between fire, texture, and transformation—imbuing each piece with tactile energy and meditative calm. Exhibited widely across India—from Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai, to Lalit Kala Akademi, Lucknow—his works reflect a continuous journey of innovation rooted in Indian ceramic heritage yet reaching toward global contemporary discourse.