Shilpi Deb was born, raised and now works in Nairobi. Coming from a family of artists, it was only natural for her to be interested in art. She completed her fine arts degree in Mumbai from the Sir JJ School of Art, the same university that most of the artists in her family studied at.

Being brought up in Africa, studying Art in India and being interested in Japanese culture from an early age, she developed a fascination with African and Asian culture. During her years in Mumbai, she carried out research within these fields, focusing on aesthetics and philosophy, eventually chancing upon the subject of Animism. This spurred her to dive deeper into its roots and ties to the artist. It helped shaped her outlook on art and life, the two things that we know to be inseparable. She adopted a subtle approach to her art, guided by the core animistic understanding that the world around us is alive, every happening and every single “thing”. Understanding that creation cannot take place in isolation, she always tries to remain ready, listening, seeing and feeling, trying to capture what moves her. These responses, no matter what their intensity is what she paints. The responses are never the same; similarly her mediums and forms vary to suit each response