( CNN ) -- As a young art graduate , Bharti Kher went to India intending to spend six months traveling . More than two decades later , she is still there and has become one of the country 's most successful artists . Kher , who is based in Delhi , has exhibited her contemporary work -- from paintings to sculptures -- all around the world . Much of her work is based around bindis , the forehead decorations worn by South Asian women . `` The bindis now for me have become a material , '' she said . `` I took the material , I repeated it again and again and again . I made it mine . I can use them like an alchemist would use or to create something that I do n't really know what 's going to happen with . '' Kher was born in London to Indian parents and grew up in a middle-class suburb , only visiting her parents ' homeland once , aged four . She went to art school -- a rarity in her British Asian community -- graduating in 1992 . `` All my cousins , friends , the people that we knew growing up as Asians are all doctors , accountants , lawyers , '' said Kher . `` This is what Asian children did . If you were first generation in the UK , you had to be a professional . `` I think people were very surprised when we said we 're going to art school . I did and so did my sister . '' Kher wanted to travel when she graduated and said she chose between New York and New Delhi with a toss of a coin . `` I had no intention of staying in India , '' she said . `` I just thought I 'm going to travel around the country . '' After turning up at New Delhi railway station , Kher then discovered she was too afraid to travel the country alone . `` I was so very flabbergasted when I first came to India , '' she said . `` My eyes were wide open , but it was like I was blind . Culturally , it was a massive shock for me . I did n't speak Hindi very well at all . '' After two weeks in India , Kher met her husband -- Subodh Gupta , now also a well-known artist -- and never left . The couple now have two children , Lola and Omi . `` That 's how we fell in love . I 've been here since , '' said Kher . She added : `` The first 10 or 15 years were really were very hard like any practicing artist now . To decide to be an artist takes a lot of courage because there are years of rejection and a lot of loneliness . `` To be able to believe in your work when nobody 's even looking at it takes real stubbornness . Because we had each other , really would support each other . '' As two well-known artists living together , Kher said she and Gupta often compete with each other . `` We do compete , ( healthily or unhealthily ) sometimes , '' she said . `` I think the crux of our relationship is art because this is something we are both extremely passionate about . '' Kher said her career began to take off in 2006 when she made a model of an elephant . `` People started to look and say 'It 's grand . It 's on a scale , ' and I think formally it was very successful . `` It was really the first time people were asking 'Who is this person ? Who is this artist ? Where is she from ? When did you make the work ? ' '' In 2007 , Kher had her first solo exhibition at a major international gallery , Jack Shainman Gallery in New York . `` I had suddenly got into my mojo , '' she said . In the past year , she has had solo exhibitions in London , New York , Hong Kong and New Delhi . When Kher began to work in India , she said there was virtually no art scene , and that even now it 's only just beginning to take off . `` India still has n't been ( unpacked ) yet , and I think it 's about to begin now , '' she said . `` There 's a lot of really interesting work here and a lot of really good artists in India . I just hope within our lifetime people realize that culture is really an important part of society . '' Kher hopes she continue to contribute to that culture for many years to come . `` When people go away from my work , I want them to go away with questions . Why did the artist make this ? What is it about ? Is there contradiction ? `` I think almost every single piece that I 've ever made carries a degree of contradiction between the form and what it 's saying , between beauty and terror or the macabre . '' Kher 's solo show , `` Bind the dream state to your waking life , '' will be at Nature Morte , New Delhi , until February 16 .
Bharti Kher was raised in England , but has become one of India 's leading artists . She traveled to New Delhi on the toss of a coin , but has stayed ever since . Comment: