Vinita Karim was born in1962 in Rangoon, Myanmar. She earned a Diploma in Fine Arts from Gerlesborg Art Institute in Stockholm and an MFA from the University of Philippines in Manila. A contemporary artist, she has lived and worked throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Her landscapes draw on her travel and experiences across different cultures and nations.

Hopping from city to city her nomadic lifestyle is evident in her paintings. Vinita’s art celebrates this diversity, which stems from a deep respect and appreciation of different cultures which meld together in our interconnected world. The Moghul miniatures, Arabic calligraphy, intricate embroideries from Bangladesh, use of gold-leaf from Egypt, combined with an art background from Sweden and the Philippines are a few of the factors which have contributed to the rich pageantry of her art-making.

In recent years, Vinita has added intricate embroideries to her multi-layered canvases, depicting her deep love for the rich traditions of craftmanship of the Indian sub-continent. Her complex and vibrant canvases depict a world of her own making, carrying signifiers of many cultures.

In her suite of works, The Riversong,  Vinita’s gilt-leafed canvases are set around lands lived and imagined, in histories and geographies of her choosing, places rich with meaning and life despite the physical absence of human figures. Hers are narratives built around life-lines of waters, in cities with significant sea histories. Vinita weaves her story-songs amongst the waves that wash the banks of waterways, canals, riversides and seafronts. Hers is a tribute to the lives and loves of generations gone by, and those still to come. Our country too has seen the growth of a mighty civilization along the Indus and the Ganges. Our holy rivers have given us so much joy and now we need to give back to them, is Vinita Karim’s belief.