Teena Soni (ESKFF at Mana Contemporary) (Season 4, Episode 4)

Teena Soni is a New Jersey based artist working within the traditional Indian-Miniature painting in a contemporary art setting. Her training belongs to the artistic region of Udaipur, Rajasthan where she apprenticed with both her grandfather, Badri Lal Chitrakar, the renowned Indian-Miniature painter and National Award /Shilp Guru Award recipient, and her father, artist Shri Sharad Soni. The rigorous training infused her natural abilities with the rich ancestral content of traditional artistry. Teena considers the historic art of Pichwai paintings as a base premise for taking heritage forward with added subtle contemporary component. Her mediums include cotton fabric or handmade paper, and prepared hand-made colors from plant extracts with natural stones that are traditional Indian methods. These natural dyes give a vibrancy to the paintings through time and keep them alive for hundreds of years. Soni’s work has been exhibited at Kanoria Art Gallery, Ahmedabad, India, Visual Art Center, Summit NJ, Pelham Art center, NY and in New Delhi. Her work has been featured in HYPERALLERGIC, Dainik Bhaskar and Rajasthan Patrika.