Born on 21 st September, 1951 at New Delhi, India,Puja Kshatriya’s journey as an artist started at a young age. A merit scholar from College of Art, Delhi she works against the backdrop of textured surfaces, combining free-flowing shapes with geometrical forms.

Over the years, her works as an artist have evolved continually. From exploring the relationship between Man and Woman, with a focus on the female form between mid 80’s and mid 90’s, to concentrating on the male form and the precision with which the human body works between 2004-2012. As an artist, she turned to portraiture, each face telling a story with which one could connect and empathize.

She changed her path yet again in 2015, when an art workshop took her to New York, and the experience, as she puts it, was ‘transformative’ – the city’s eclectic and energetic environment gave her a push in a new direction. From there on she  got interested in nature and its beauty, “exploring the fascinating world of plants, foliage, animals and birds.” Kshatriya’s solo exhibit of Enchanted Forest at Art & Soul, in 2017, highlighted the blurring of many boundaries by the artist, combining various forms of art to “pursue beauty in colour and design.”

“Using the age-old genre of the landscapes and portraits, Puja explores life and vegetation within the forest through fantasy.

Using different fine art techniques of collages, marbling, and painting on canvas Puja introduces a modern material like acetate sheet to bring in an external embellishment. Puja has been developing the technique over many years.  Each canvas is fully laden with long hours of dexterous painting and the handmade. To the delicacy of painting, Puja then layers her work with acetate sheet cut outs of some incredible images of animals, birds and flowers. Through this judicious blend, the artist creates an entirely new visual language,
where she juxtaposes the movement of time and beauty in a singular vocabulary.

Puja plays with time and space,creating riveting images of enchantment amidst the richness of Indian flora and fauna. Interspersed within the theme are some stunning portraits of unerring beauty, which are a throwback to the tree spirits drawn from Indian myths.

It is in the juxtaposition of traditional Indian images which Puja culls out from her study of traditional Indian culture, and contemporary images and material from her own lived experiences and travels across the globe, The Enchanted Forest’ showcases the richness of the hybrid coupled with a cosmopolitan voice,” says Alka Pande, curator & author.

Puja Kshatriya is the recipient of several awards including, Chandigarh Art Museum Award, Sahitya Kala Parishad Award and the Jury Award, at the Festival of Art, Dubai.