Biography

For an artist who is an exponent in penning and brushing down the reality of others, it is difficult to paint his or her profile.

I have tried to give shape and rhythm to the key facts of my life that have in any way contributed to what I am today, along with a biographical note overlying my credentials and achievements.

My Profile & Exhibition History

Auctions: -
2002 Christies London � Islamic and Indian Art
2002 Bonham�s London - Modern and Contemporary Indian Art

Selected Solo Exhibitions 
2024 Nehru Centre Art Gallery, Mayfair London �World through the Porthole�
2023 King Charles III Coronation, 6thMay, London Street Parties� Garden Exhibition.
2018 Cymroza Art Gallery, Breach Candy Mumbai India �Thresholds and Journeys�
2009 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India �Playing with the Millennia�
2005 Nehru Centre, Mayfair London �From the Porthole �Marine Millennia�
2001 Nehru Centre Art Gallery, Mayfair London
1998 Jehangir Art Gallery Mumbai, India �Through the Porthole�
1996 Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta, India
1995 Taj Art Gallery, Taj Mahal Hotel Mumbai, India �World through the Porthole�
1993 ANZ Grindlays Bank Calcutta, India
1991 Conclave Gallery, Calcutta, India

Selected Group Exhibitions  
2019 Nehru Centre, Mumbai, India
2018 Palette�18- Art Walk by Edelweiss, New Delhi, India
2017 Menier Gallery, Southwark, London
2017 Gallery 508, Chelsea, London
2011 Yusuf Contemporary Edgware Road, London
2007 Hill Rise Gallery, Richmond, Surrey, London
2002 M.P.Birla Art Gallery, Kensington, London
2000 London Sketch Club in conjunction with Chelsea Festival, London
2000 St Martins in the Field, Trafalgar Square London.

Selected Annual Exhibitions  
1999 Annual Summer Exhibition, Edith Grove Gallery, Fulham, London
1998 Annual Exhibition, Bombay Art Society
1990 Annual Exhibition, Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta

• Name appears in 'WHO’S WHO IN ART', - 34thEdition
• Name appears in 'Dictionary of International Biography' UK as Freelance Art Critic.
• Have extensive media and print coverage

Collections  
Paintings are housed in private/corporate collections in U.K, India, Europe and other countries across the world. To name a few:
• Chairman, Foresight Limited, London--Mr.R.Mehrotra
• Director, Tatra Sipox, London�Mr. Ravi Rishi
• Managing Director, Colebrand, London
• Managing Director, Ramon International Insurance Brokers Ltd, London--Mr.Dan Raveh
• CNN South Asia Bureau Chief (former) London --Mr. Ashis Ray
• Governor, Himachal Pradesh, India --Vice Admiral R.K.S. Ghandhi
• FOC in C (1995) India--Vice Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat
• Minister for Backward Classes, India--Mr. Sitaram Kesri
• Financial Commissioner, Shimla, India �Mr. Surendra Kanwar
• Chairman, Shipping Corporation of India, -Mr. Rajwar

Early days and following

 I am a London based artist having my roots embedded in the Indian ethos, as I grew, was nurtured, and flourished as an artist in India.

When I moved to London in1998 I had to start afresh, and it was no easy task to become absorbed into the biggest Art/Cultural Hub of the World. But I did not stop pursuing and shortly established myself in the Art World here. Besides being an artist I am art critic for the ‘Confluence,’ a London based newspaper.

I spent my childhood in Shimla, a hill station in the Himalayas (India), some 7,500 ft above sea level. This picturesque town, being the Summer Capital of the British Raj, had some of the best boarding schools in the country where students came to study from far and wide. I received my early education there from the Auckland House School.

Living among the Himalayan pinewood forests, I was inspired to paint at a very early age. I happen to be the only artist in a family of seven children and a much larger extended family.

I received my graduation degree from the Punjab University (India) in 1963. Thereafter I had formal Art Education from the Government College of Arts, Chandigarh (India) where I was awarded a scholarship for my outstanding work. 

However, I matured as an artist in Calcutta where I interacted with very senior artists and they were always a source of inspiration and encouragement to me.

Another person who played a very vital role in my life was my husband, who was a sea-going officer in the Shipping Corporation of India. Accompanying him on merchant navy ships in the early 70s, and travelling vastly across oceans, I studied the sea and created my series ‘The World through a Porthole’.

From Calcutta I moved to Mumbai where I became actively involved in its art and cultural activities and exhibited extensively. I organised a Women’s Art Show commemorating 5o years of India’s Independence, was invited to judge inter-school art competitions in Calcutta. Thereafter I moved to London.

I am the granddaughter of the renowned American visionary, Satyanand Stokes (Samuel Evan Stokes) who in 1904, at age 21 moved to India and made India his home, settling in the Himalayan hills of Shimla. He pioneered apple cultivation in the then very poor countryside, making it to-days richest apple growing region in the country, and inadvertently contributing to India’s present Economic Boon. A great philanthropist, he fought against “Begar”, (forced labour) and was instrumental in its abolition. (Ref - Satyanand Stokes – Google)