The Journey Uphill Painting

Neena Singh is a contemporary artist based in India. She began her journey as a professional artist in the year 2006 with her solo show ‘Serendipity’ at Mumbai’s iconic Jehangir Art Gallery. Neena did her Masters and M.Phil in Sociology. She was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of linguistic identity and Indian Nationalism from JNU, New Delhi. She has been a civil servant for the last 34 years of her life. She has been pursuing her love for art with immense passion and dedication. Neena grew up in small towns in north India. Growing up in a conventional family and in small towns made her aware of the then existing limitations on a female child. School libraries became her safe sanctuary and books became her companions in a non-internet era. The act of painting was not a choice for her, it was an absolute necessity. She has been painting for more than 2 decades and has participated in a number of group shows in India and abroad. Presently, she is a gallery-represented full time artist. She lives with her two beautiful daughters. My artworks are intricately linked with my life which compelled me to explore the themes of selfhood, renewal, rejuvenation and transcendence through the metaphor of landscape. To me, Nature offered limitless generative possibilities of ART, of LIFE. Through the motifs of Nature, the artist in me is on an inner voyage to discover a universe and to create a space which enables me to breathe fresh air. In my view, calling these paintings abstract landscapes will be reductionist. My art is a testimony to John Pollock’s statement that each artist paints himself. Looking at the expanse projected on my canvas, I assure myself that I finally broke away from boundaries that were unjust and unfair. The realisation makes me free.