Anubhuti

Growing up, Meena was always inquisitive about the world around her, treating art as a medium of exploration. She started her journey with contemporary art and transitioned into abstract art within just a few years. Abstract art for her is a free form of expression, with no boundaries confining her. Through her artwork, she delves into the nuances of nature and the world around us. Besides being a representation of our society, nature, and cultural norms, her art tries to depict a glimpse of the various facets of what she observes the world to be. Through a wide array of symbols and elements, she tries to demonstrate the values of freedom and belonging in a man-made world. Each of her artworks adheres to a prevalent issue and is distinctive in its theme, colour palette, and visual style. Through the insights and awareness developed while traveling, she attempts to translate the findings of her subconscious mind into her work.

Each of Meena’s paintings portray a contrasted world depicting conundrum, uncertainty, and the countless thoughts surrounding us. The overarching theme of her work is balanced, varying the colour palette from earthy to darker colours. This helps create room for interpretation in the direction that the viewer wishes to, and emphasises the positive and negative experiences, both of which are equally important. Her transition into abstract art occurred during the pandemic, but after her very first abstract painting, she realised that it was the truest form of expression she knew, and has never looked back since. “Abstract art requires a flow of thoughts and a story in the painter’s mind which I personally cannot confine to a single time period or duration during the day. I go about painting as and when ideas strike me, sometimes even continuing for hours after I start. The abstract allows me to liberate my ideas.”

During her 20-year journey, she has exhibited her work at several groups and solo shows, IGNCA being her first in 2014, followed by the WAMA Artist Show 2016, Khajuraho International 2016, Sahitya Kala Parishad 2016, two solo shows at the Indian Habitat Centre in 2018, the India Art Festival 2019 and 2020, and The Bombay Art Society 2021.

Meena Yadav grew up in a city located in the largest state of the country, Kanpur. Most of her early childhood days were spent near the countryside in this city. Back in time, it was a relatively smaller city with a lot of open spaces that she remembers exploring with her friends, as a kid. She spent her later teenage years in Delhi. Having traveled to many cities across the country for brief periods, she was exposed to a lot of different cultures. As a result, she  finds herself connected to places where she can synchronise all her senses with nature. Traveling over the years, she found herself gravitating towards spiritual cities, which release positive energy and intersect with nature.

Meena has always felt that she could pick up the behaviors, beliefs, and essence of nature from cities like Haridwar and Shirdi, where people are strongly embedded in some form of belief and universal energy that keeps this world intact, without pondering too much into the rationale of it.

The pandemic has put down restrictions for every individual, society, and economy. This more-than-a-year-long experience has made us all realise our dependence on things external to us. But through it, Meena has also learned the importance and necessity of balance in her personal life, and the significance of silence in all forms of relationships. As an artist, the pandemic restricted exposure, travel, and social gatherings – most places that artists subconsciously observe to create a trail of thought. Most of us have today stepped outside our initial landscape to consume knowledge or content – be it through OTT platforms, books, or different kinds of music. Through this pandemic, Meena has experimented and relied on her existing thoughts and imagination. Covid – being a part of everybody’s life through the past two years, has left a trace of its own in each of her abstract works, in one form or the other.