SAREENA KHEMKA

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

“These cities have done their part. They were the best, which a society largely based on selfishness, and rapacity could construct, but there are things in nature entirely un-adapted for a society in which the social side of our nature is demanding a larger share of recognition. “ “ Garden City” Urban Utopias in the 2Oth Century. (Excerpt from a painting)

 I live in a city that is a diverse hot spot of cultures with extreme disparities between people and societies. There is a strange amalgamation of filth and glitz between the uber rich and the poor. We are but mere shadows of our rich historical past where human beings are morphing or regressing into hybrid animalistic forms defiling the spaces we inhabit. 

My paintings are drawn from imagery born from this society, with perfectly sculpted human bodies spewing out garbage, men turned into animals with dog heads and limbs urinating publicly and hordes of people contently sleeping in turmoil in vast urban environments. 

I work mostly in mixed media painting, these works are very physical and harsh in nature yet i consciously used paper as a surface to give it a soft and fragile quality where the treatment and look is almost that of an old parchment with washes of tea and graphite. The use of text Is an important aspect of my work some legible for the viewers to peer into and discover and the others purely there for the visual language. 

 - SAREENA KHEMKA

RESUME

EDUCATION 

2004 - 2007 BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS  The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, U.S.A 

2002 - 2004  BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS  Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati Univ. Santiniketan, India

July 2006 SUMMER PAINTING & DRAWING STUDIO  International School of Painting, Drawing & Sculpture, Umbria, Italy 

 2001 - 2002 PAINTING & DRAWING STUDIO Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, India 

EXHIBITIONS 

JULY 2012, ALLEGORIES (Group Show)  Art Konsult, New Delhi, India 

FEB 2012, “The Human Spill”, KALA GHODA FESTIVAL (Sculptural installation)  Kala Ghoda, Mumbai 

APRIL 2010, SAARC ART SHOW, (Group Show) Centennial park and Assembly Hall, Thimpu, Bhutan

JULY 2009, OF FAMILIAR PLACES & INTIMATE SPACES (Solo Show)  Chemould Art Gallery, Calcutta, India 

MAY 2007, UNDERGRADUATE EXHIBITION (Group Show) G2 Gallery, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, U.S.A 

DEC 2006, CITIES APART (Solo Show) Genesis Art Gallery, Calcutta, India 

JULY 2006, STUDENT SHOW (Group Show)  International School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture, Italy 

RESIDENCY/ART CAMP 

MARCH – MAY 2010, JAN 2011-12, Space 118, Mumbai 

APRIL 2010, SAARC ART CAMP, Tarayana Art Center, Thimpu, Bhutan 

PRESS 

JULY 2012 “Social Sensitivities on a colorful palette,” Shweta Sharma, The Sunday Gaurdian 

 http://www.sunday-guardian.com/artbeat/social-sensitivities-on-a-colourful-palette

JULY 2012 “Eloquent Tales,” Dr. Seema Bawa,The Asian Age 

http://www.asianage.com/life-and-style/eloquent-tales-139 

APRIL 2010, “Many mediums, one message,” Kuenga Tender,Kuensel Newspaper, Bhutan. 

http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=15325 

DEC2006, “Tale of Two Cities,” Mathuresh Paul,The Statesman, Calcutta, India.