Sonal Ambani

Sonal Ambani: Sculpting the Soul of Our Times
 

In the world of contemporary art, few sculptors possess the ability to marry raw material with profound societal insight as seamlessly as Sonal Ambani. Her sculptures, often crafted from the unyielding hardness of steel and bronze, carry a heartbeat — a pulse that reflects the human experience in all its complexity. Ambani’s work is not simply an aesthetic exercise; it is a commentary on the pressing issues that define the world today. Her recognition through awards like the 2024 Motwani Jadeja Art Prize, India's largest art prize, serves as a testament to the potency of her work and her voice in the global art community.

 

Steel Meets Soul: The Formative Journey
 

Sonal’s artistic journey is rooted in New York’s vibrant cultural ecosystem, a place where the collision of ideas and forms became a key influence on her creative expression. Immersed in the city’s museums and galleries from a young age, she developed an intuitive grasp of art’s power to provoke thought and inspire action. This fusion of art with meaning is a hallmark of her sculptures today — each one standing as a dialogue between form and function, between beauty and purpose.

 

A Sculptor of Our Time: Exhibitions That Matter
 

Ambani’s sculptures are informed by contemporary issues such as gender inequality, economic disparity, and the growing influence of technology on human interaction. Her work has been exhibited globally, capturing the attention of curators, critics, and art lovers alike. Her piece Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune is being featured at the Venice Biennale Art Exhibition 2024 which is an extension of her ongoing engagement with feminist and economic themes. The charging bull, pierced by arrows, critiques patriarchal structures in the financial world, an image at once visceral and symbolic, pushing the viewer to confront the brutal realities of gender inequality.

 

In 2022, her sculpture Riderless World was exhibited at the Venice Biennale Art Exhibition. It reflects on the dislocation and uncertainty brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and serves as a memorial to those we have lost, adding humanity to the raw statistics of the tragedy. With its bronze horse, broken and riderless, Ambani invites us to reckon with a world that had lost its sense of direction. The absence of the rider symbolizes the disruption caused by the pandemic, but it also speaks to resilience, the determination to rebuild despite the fractures.

 

In 2023, her series We Dream Under The Same Sky was featured by the Leila Heller Gallery at the DIFC Sculpture Park in Dubai, where her works have continued to resonate with global audiences. Her pieces are held in private collections across India, Europe, and the Middle East, including the prestigious collection of the Royal Family of Bahrain. Her sculpture The March of Time raised the most funds for The Concours d’éléphant Auction, under the patronage of the British Royal Family.

 

Sculpting Global Conversations
 

Ambani’s work transcends cultural boundaries. At the India Art Fair and Art Bahrain Across Borders, she has presented her sculptures as part of a wider conversation on contemporary crises — from climate change to economic inequality. The exhibitions are more than just showcases of art; they are platforms for dialogue and action. Her pieces do not simply exist in the space of the gallery; they are catalysts for broader discussions about humanity, society, and our collective future.

 

Her work Little Blue Screen is another powerful piece in her portfolio. Here, Ambani turns her attention to technology’s encroachment on daily life, critiquing how our dependency on screens erodes authentic communication. In a world where digital devices often act as proxies for human connection, her art is a reminder of the necessity to preserve what is real — the tactile, the face-to-face, the shared moments that truly define relationships.

 

Shaping the Future, One Sculpture at a Time
 

What makes Ambani’s work particularly compelling is her ability to make steel — a material often associated with rigidity and permanence — seem fluid, dynamic, and deeply human. She breathes life into bronze and metal, infusing them with emotional resonance and a sense of movement.

 

Her creative collaboration with Richard Orlinsky on the Ganpati Sculpture stands as a testament to her belief in art as a participatory act. The sculpture isn’t just a physical object; it’s an embodiment of a shared creative vision, a collaborative effort that mirrors Ambani’s philosophy that art should be a collective experience, a conversation between artist and viewer.

 

Art as an Agent of Change
 

Sonal Ambani’s art pushes the boundaries of sculpture by making it an active participant in contemporary discourse. Whether addressing the gender pay gap, the devastating impact of the pandemic, or the overreach of digital colonization, her sculptures transcend their materiality. They are messages in metal, calling for empathy, awareness, and action.
 

In a world that is often too fast to pause, Ambani’s sculptures give us reason to stop, think, and reflect. Her works are more than just pieces to be admired in a gallery; they are powerful testaments to the fact that art can — and should — serve as a catalyst for change. Through her masterful manipulation of form and narrative, Sonal Ambani offers not just art, but a vision for a more connected, equitable, and thoughtful world. And in doing so, she reminds us all that the real power of sculpture lies not in its physical presence, but in its ability to change how we see the world.

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Notable Other Achievements

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She is the founder of “Cancer Screening Research Trust” whose primary focus is to promote early cancer awareness. As a fund raiser for cancer awareness, she authored two coffee table books, “Mothers and Daughters” launched at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in 2004 and “Father and Sons”. To promote the importance of early screening, she produced two television commercials which have been shown on the national Indian television channels such as Zee TV, the Star Channels and Doordarshan with a combined viewership exceeding 300 million. The awareness campaign won the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) esteemed award for “Best Commercial for a Non-Profit Organization”.

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In 2010, she founded and served as the first Chairperson of FICCI – FLO Ahmedabad, which was launched with Shri Narendra Modi (the current Prime Minister of India, who at the time was the Chief Minister of Gujarat). She has a notable educational background, with a PhD in Business Management and holds a patent granted in the US namely, “System and method for providing financial services to children and teenagers” Prior to her artistic endeavours, she worked as an investment banker for one of the largest US investment banks in New York City. She has also been recognized for her work in the business community and serves on the boards of three large publicly listed companies, and is also a member of the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

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She is a recipient of the prestigious Pfeffer Peace Prize given to her in New York in 2010, Women of Excellence Award from FICCI-FLO in Ahmedabad in 2018 and the Times of India Women Power Award for Art and Sculpture in 2019. Her sculptures have been covered in many publications, including Architectural Digest, Harper's Bazaar, Art India Magazine and in Arianna Huffington's Thrive Global from 2021 - 2024.
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Awards and Recognition​

• MJF Art Prize Winner (2024) 

• The Times of India Women Power Award for Art and Sculpture (2019)

• The Women of Excellence Award from FICCI – FLO (2018)

• Pfeffer Peace Award (2011)

• Pride of Gujarat and Maharashtra Award (2011)

• Tej Gyan Foundation (2011)