S. Harshavardhana was born in New Delhi in 1958. His father, Jagdish Swaminathan, was an acclaimed artist. Harshavardhana completed post-graduation in bio-sciences from Birla Institute of Science & Technology, Pilani. He was working as a bio scientist till he gave up his job in 1993.

Harshavardhana is a self-taught artist who displays his vast creative vocabulary in his heavily textured but plainly coloured canvases. Deeply influenced by tribal art and symbols, he creates abstract geometric forms – mostly inverted triangular structures constructed within carefully demarcated areas of colour – that are violently cut into one another. While some of these forms blend in, others create obvious scars, bringing a distinctive character to his works.

Influenced by tribal art, Harshavardhana paints abstract geometrical forms on his canvas. He has exhibited his work in solo shows like ‘Wanderings’, Gallery Art Motif, New Delhi (1997); ‘Seeking the Reality’, Indigo Blue Art, Singapore (2007); and Galerie J.Bastien Art, Brussles (2014).

He has also been part of group shows within the country and abroad, including ‘2D / 3D’, Visual Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2003); ‘Tales, Reflection and Constructs’, ITC Windsor, Bengaluru (2008); ‘The Lost Sparrow’, Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi (2011).