Rachel Kalpana James was born in 1961 in England and is currently based in Ottawa. Her multi-disciplinary art practice is inspired by her South Asian heritage, immigrant history and love of books. Working in installation, video and performance, she explores the construction of identity and belonging. She works with and critiques the authoritative systems of the archive and language, as well as subjective memory, to expose them as both fallible and incomplete. Her work is an ongoing investigation of how we know ourselves, and others. She has been the recipient of a number of grants and residencies including the Banff Centre and no.w.here residency and a Chalmers Grant. Her work has been exhibited in Canada at The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Royal Ontario Museum, Gallery 44, and A Space; in New York City at Bose Pacia, in London, UK with INIVA and LADA; in India at The Habitat Centre and in Pakistan at Croweaters.