Born in George Town, Penang, Nirmala Dutt Shanmughalingam’s artistic talent was recognised when she was under the tutelage of Hoessein Enas (1924-1995), the founder of Angkatan Pelukis Semenanjung (APS). In 1966, she enrolled part-time at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and then in 1971 at the Fogg Museum School of Art in Boston (USA). She began studying full-time in late 1975, gaining her Bachelor of Science from Oxford Polytechnic (UK), specialising in mass communication, graphic art and psychology. Between 1992 and 1995, she completed her M.Phil. at Goldsmiths, University of London (UK).

After returning from the United States, N. Shanmughalingam attempted to paint various aspects of the Malaysian landscape. This attempt led her to appreciate the deterioration of the country’s landscape due to the vast urbanisation under way in the 1970s. This inspired her Statement series in which she began to use photography and the montage technique as a means of artistic expression. This reflected her exposure to Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, both of which she encountered while studying in the United States. Statement 3 (1975–79) and Pollution Piece (1973) for example, could be observed as a form of ‘photographic documentation’ arranged in the format of a graphic presentation. The various images include photographs of children in a crisp presentation manner, highlighted by phrases explaining these photographs.

The repeated use of Xeroxed images from mass media also appears in her Anak Asia series (1983). Such an approach suggests how the constant reproduction of such images in the mass media can lead to desensitisation to the horrors of war. The rugged texture of the Xeroxed faces serves to accentuate this notion and demonstrate the diminishing sensitivity that these images carry.

Her observation and criticality to what is happening in the world led her to produce Save the Seed That Will Save the Black People (1986). This work reflected her stance on American and British roles in South African apartheid, with a portrayal of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher that led to the unexpected removal of the work by National Art Gallery staff shortly before a scheduled exhibition opening. The incident sparked significant press controversy and was later reinstated when N. Shanmughalingam gained support from figures like the Director General of the National Art Gallery and fellow artist Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal (1929-2011).

Certainly one of Southeast Asia’s most important women artists, she remained committed to using art to awaken a social conscience. In 2005, she produced a full body of work for her Tsunami series. The exhibition featured abstract paintings that reflected her personal artistic response to the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.

Her works have graced international exhibitions, including prominent venues like the National Gallery of Thailand, Japan’s Fukuoka Art Museum, London’s Barbican Centre and the Singapore Art Museum. Even since her death, her work has been selected for the exhibition Awakenings: Art in Society in Asia 1960s–1990s (2019), an exhibition highlighting 150 important artists from the Asian region.