Artist Jeena Raghavan Paints New York City in Surreal Colors
New York City has been here forever, evolving like a vibrant golden sun with so many layers and layers of experiences, people, events, stories. Each newcomer, each dreamer who comes into the city sees it as if for the very first time and develops a very special equation with it, a love affair just between that person and the city. Writers weave their stories around it, poets turn the heartbeats of the city into a poem, musicians create their rhythms from the pulsating vibes of city streets.
This is the story of Jeena Raghavan, an artist who discovered her art – and herself – in New York City. Born in England, she moved with her family to Bangalore, India when she was just six. Like many children she was enamored with colors and art, always sketching on paper napkins in restaurants. At the age of 13 she did have an art show in London of her paintings of Lord Ganesha. Her East-West upbringing was very apparent for one of her much-appreciated works showed Lord Ganesha eating an ice-cream cone in a park!
There has always been a synergy between her art and social work and her art journey began by donating half the proceeds from that first sale to charity. She has been deeply involved with the Agastya International Foundation, a leading education nonprofit, and contributed to the fund for migrant workers and their families during COVID, with the proceeds feeding many families. She has also taught hundreds of children on the campus through workshops, bringing them joy through art and colors.
Taking a gap year after high school, she traveled to Florence and Paris, and feasted on art, taking many art classes. On her return to India, she participated in several shows and visited different cities, absorbing the art which exists in India, almost by osmosis. She then spent four years in New York pursuing the study of art at the Parsons School of Design.
But New York City, once you have lived there, seems to infiltrate one’s bloodstream and become a part of one’s DNA. Jeena decided to move back into the city and experience it not as a student but as a working artist, living and working in New York, getting her inspiration from the city, almost by osmosis. Being totally on her own in the big city, working out of a small studio, she learned to listen to the city, to all that it had to share with her. Bit by bit, the city opened her eyes to the many diverse worlds within it, and her artwork evolved almost like personal journalistic diaries.
Painting reached an intimate point where she internalized the spirit of the city and rethought many of her views on life – yet she splashed it all in the Indian colors she loved, bringing her own signature to New York. Recently she had her first solo showing – Jenesis: The Original Abstraction in the West Village at the Revelation Gallery. It was a dark and stormy night and yet about 150 people filled the gallery. Nine new works done in New York are the highlight of the show, and as Jeena explains, her recent work is more dense with depth and complexity. She says, “I think I have an inclination for narrative because everything I’ve done is like a journal entry for me. I feel like I’m able to relate to the figures that I paint and see myself in every one of them. Basically, the whole series is about how I adjusted to the high velocity environment of New York while trying to hold on to my roots. I wanted to communicate my sense of struggle to find my place as an artist in the city. The themes I explored in these pieces were intuition, instinct, self-awareness – and trying to find power in my own voice.”
Jeena uses complex patterns and layers paints with a vibrant color palette. The start in many of her works is from childhood memories and growing up in India, such as in ‘Leap of Faith’. The fox in the Indian folk tale the “Panchatantra” was considered a shrewd and bold animal, as it stood up to a lion despite its small physical stature and always made its way out of complex situations. Jeena says of this painting: “For me, this piece represents how life is full of obstacles and illusions. For me, the fox is a representation of someone I feel I have been in my personal life, able to dodge situations and find my way out. I gave the fox a green eye because in Indian culture the color green symbolizes new beginnings. And so, there’s a sense of optimism, hope and faith to keep you moving forward in life and allow you to take risks and be agile through that.”
Growing up in India, Jeena was exposed to all forms of Indian classical dance and even took classes herself. Her painting ‘Antique’ is an homage to dance as an art form. She says, “Different types of classical Indian dance have been part of the country’s history and spirituality and to me it’s about someone who wants to reach their goals and reach for the stars and is enriched by their environment to do so.”
A painting which is close to the artist’s heart is ‘Basking in her Glory’ which features a majestic elephant because my journey into art started with started with the god Ganesha who is known as the Remover of Obstacles and has the qualities that human beings strive to achieve. “Basking in her glory” is a whimsical representation of the feelings of joy, richness, and faith.
The exhibit is on till February 1. On the drawing board are a number of solo and group shows here and in India. She plans on continuing the series, expanding it and getting into more visual journal entries, working on bigger canvases.
“This series is just very special for me because it’s my first long series,” says Jeena. “I spent a year and a half non-stop creating in New York. I’m just very happy that I get to share it and show it in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.”
And finally check out the large 48” x 60” oil on canvas – ‘To withdraw is to die’. Jeena was inspired by the quote by the famous spiritual philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti who once said, “To be vulnerable is to live, to withdraw is to die”. The complexity of life and death is Jeena’s use of multiple layers of colors and intricate patterns that form a powerful female figure navigating through the thorns beneath her. It depicts the growth of human awareness, resilience and fulfillment from embracing one’s vulnerability.
For Jeena, it’s very personal – it’s her story told in paint on canvas.
