Apurva Subiah

Painting, for me, is more than a practice-it is a language through which I decipher the world’s unspoken truths. I have always been drawn to the hues and hieroglyphs of nature, to the fleeting expressions of human emotion, and to the symbolic patterns hidden within ordinary moments. In responding to these subtle invitations, I found my voice, as both an artist and a poetess.

My process is intuitive, often led by emotion rather than reason. There's a quiet war within me, a constant interplay between the intellectual and the instinctive—a war of contrariety that fuels my work. Like black and white coexisting without ever merging, this tension gives my paintings their energy and depth. Each canvas becomes a space where contrasts live side by side: chaos and calm, darkness and light, precision and freedom.

I paint to explore what words often fail to express. My work leans into abstraction, symbolism, and layered textures, evoking emotional landscapes rather than literal scenes. Nature remains a constant muse—not just in form or color, but in the way it mirrors the human condition: transient, complex, and achingly beautiful. I often view the canvas as a living surface, where stories emerge not through planning, but through presence an...

I hold an Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts from the National Institute of Fine Arts, where I formally honed the skills that had long stirred quietly within me. My creative instinct, however, has always existed in parallel with a strong academic and analytical foundation. I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Mumbai University. I’m also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA – ICFAI) and a certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM – GARP, USA). These diverse disciplines—art and analysis, feeling and form—inform my work in ways that are both unexpected and deeply resonant.