"Inner World I" Painting

Aakash Mali (b. 1999, Vadodara, India) is an Indian painter based in Vadodara, Gujarat. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Interior Design from CEPT University, Ahmedabad, in 2021. While studying at CEPT, his engagement with art history and conversations with contemporary artists encouraged him to develop painting as an independent practice alongside design.

Drawing from dreams, memory, poetry, mythology, and nature, Mali creates imagined worlds that move between abstraction and figuration. His early body of work reinterpreted the visual language of Kota paintings, transforming traditional hunting scenes into narratives of coexistence between humans and animals while offering a contemporary perspective on a historic folk tradition. Working primarily in oil, alongside watercolor and acrylic, his current practice explores emotional landscapes where reality and imagination intersect.

Alongside his painting practice, Mali works as a set designer, creating narrative-driven environments for weddings and events. His background in design informs his sensitivity to narrative, color, materiality, and spatial experience, while painting remains an intuitive space for exploration. He is also developing Cocoon Design Studio, an emerging design practice focused on decor, art installations, and objects. His work has been exhibited in India and internationally, including two group exhibitions in Athens, Greece (2021), Noism (2022), and his solo exhibition The Mirror (2022). In 2020, he received the Art United, Together We Stand award from NYAC, New York and the Artist Surfaces Award (Honorary Mention) from Artist Support Pledge in association with Artist Surfaces (2026) . He is currently developing a new body of oil paintings titled Afterlife.