Born in England, Jeena Raghavan relocated to India at age six, before moving to New York to further her journey as an artist at the prestigious Parsons School of Design. Her aptitude for painting appeared at an early age. Her first art exhibition was in London when she was only 13 years old where she raised money for a charity by selling a series of paintings themed around the Indian diety, Ganesha.

Vibrant color and dense patterns are a strong influence in her work. This is illustrated through remarkable identification with multiple self-images using a figurative visual language and abstract layering. Acting as a series of ‘self portraits’, each painting describes an inciting experience as Jeena adjusts to a high velocity environment while holding on to her Indian roots. Her technique speaks to a different facet of her journey; acting as a journal of her own experiences and upbringing in England and India. Her work is a visual journal of her experiences living in NYC as a young Indian woman trying to create a niche for herself in a foreign land. Although carving this niche has been a constant struggle, she has enjoyed every moment of it.

Her latest show in Chelsea was themed around ‘Vulnerability’. It garnered a lot of praise, with many stopping to photograph her large painting. Jeena loves to include elements of nature in her paintings. Foxes, bulls, and horses find their way onto her canvas, in an explosion of vivid colors, abstract backgrounds, and figurative compositions.

The gallery itself filled out quickly, as nearly a 1000 people attended, with queues spilling further out. Described by one media outlet as a ‘Grassroots Assault on Chelsea’s Elitist Gallery Culture’, the show itself was a hit, as young, talented artists from different backgrounds announced their arrival on a stage hitherto occupied by the incumbent elite.

2024 promises to be a definitive and exciting turn towards where she hopes to go, with two solo shows scheduled in January and July in the West Village and Lower east side in Manhattan. Both these shows will be curated by Katie Mangurian who believes that “There is a certain rawness and genuine quality to Jeena’s art”.

Jeena takes her unquenchable love for art, folds in her unique and multi-cultured life experiences, and wrings out colors, themes, and textures that are truly extraordinary. She likes to experiment with a variety of mixed media to create depth and multiple layers in her work.

Inquiries: jeenaraghavan5@gmail.com