Neena Singh

Neena Singh’s paintings are intuitive outpourings of colour and form that denote an inner landscape. The artist uses paint and canvas to explore human vitality. Singh’s painting journey was initially highly influenced by Women Who Ran With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. In this book, Estes encouraged a release of a particular female rage in an emotive burial ground, talking of nyiibu: the act of travelling to the mountains to understand oneself. Singh states: ‘It wasn’t possible for me to go to the mountains, so I undertook this journey on my canvas. Art is a way for me to reconnect with my inner self.’ 

After using her work to recapitulate her own pain, Singh’s paintings evolved along with her. This impassioned energy which once mirrored her anguish, now describes her audacity of spirit. They appear as imagined, dream-like, even Chthonic spaces of emotional celebration, tender joy, refuge, and warmth. These paintings present raw spaces of honesty, of release, and transportation for both artist and viewer. 

Singh’s abstract paintings are created through an intuitive process of adding, subtracting, and layering. Instead of beginning with a preconceived idea, Singh allows the painting to develop naturally, beginning with spontaneous splashes of colour and mark making. The painting will lead her in a specific direction, and she will follow with more considered alterations to the canvas: clarifying the piece.

Colour is a key part to the artist’s work. Singh becomes emotionally connected to certain hues, choosing the colour which most harmonises with her state of mind. Thus, each painting’s palette becomes a kind of self-portrait of the artists inner narrative. 

These paintings, although created out of an instinctual layering of colour, are developed out of a compost-like mulch of various inspirations. Singh spends much of her studio time reading, whether this be the poetry of Rilke or Rumi, or the philosophy of Buddha. Myths and symbols also inspire her process. Singh see’s parallels in the catharsis of painting with the myth of La Loba, the Wolf Woman, who reanimated bones through song. For Singh, this story symbolises the artistic need to search for and nurture the indestructible life-force inside of us, even if it appears lifeless. 

For Singh, the process of painting mirrors La Loba singing to the bones. Both creative acts reanimate the sparking essence of human vigour. By painting, Singh amplifies her vitality, developing metaphorical landscapes for the viewer to seek and celebrate their own thriving spirit. 

For more information: http://www.neenasingh.com