Night Life

In the early 2000,when Bijnor-born civil servant Neena Singh turned to acrylic and canvas,it was to express what she couldn’t “through words”. “I am a compulsive reader,I have always been drawn to books. But a stage came in my life when I wanted to express not through words,but through a paint brush,” says Singh,47,in the Capital for her debut exhibition titled Celestial Notations,of 30 acrylic works at the Lalit Kala Akademi. A decade down the line,the words have receded into the background. Now,the Mumbai-based artist,a mother of two,is at her job by the day,and at her canvases regularly at night. She conjures up abstract works in roaring reds,indigo blues and diffused yellows. “Gradually my colleagues have accepted the fact that I am an artist too,” laughs Singh.

The self taught artist,who “paints surrounded by books” got her break at the Jehangir art gallery in Mumbai,with a solo exhibition titled Serendipity in 2006. “The opening was great,the response was good,there were people who walked in from all walks of life and most of the works were sold,” she recalls. The current body of works are priced between Rs 30,000 and Rs 1.2 lakh. The exhibition is on till December 16.