Seven Paintings, January 2019

Artist Statement

My works are about my journey through life—memories of the past, experiences of the present and premonitions of the future—and how that journey, through its changing landscapes and human characters, generates images that I call inscapes. My subjects arise from very personal experiences and get fermented in my imagination to project an inner vision. I create deep intimate spaces, transitional moments of conscious and unconscious thoughts using both natural and personal imageries. In this endeavor, dark, solid and earthly colors and robust textures play a big role. I employ printmaking, painting, collage and poetry to express my mental state. I always feel like an outsider in this country; at the same time, being a part of the local community, I also feel like an insider. The small university town of San Marcos, Texas, offers plenty of similarities with my home town, Santiniketan, but it also provides profound contrasts in culture, language and people. From the very beginning my relationship with this place has been marked with a tension and contradictory emotions—a push of alienation and a pull of deep intimacy. I had a very similar experience in Louisiana where I lived for five years, before moving to Texas. I hope through my art this place will embrace me as its own, or maybe not. I started my journey of self-exploration through the examination of my real and imagined relationships with space time and people. In my inscapes I articulate all these different emotional tensions for the viewers.