Sonal Varshneya Ojha

Pop Art Ltd Edn 2/5 Etching India Lucknow Artist Woman Green Yellow Cactus

2020

Sonal Varshneya Ojha is an exciting young artist from India. Born in 1985 in Agra, she now works from a studio in Lucknow. With a Masters Degree in the Visual Arts from Agra University, Sonal’s work has been shown at major International Art Fairs such as the last Edition of the India Art Fair in 2020 in New Delhi. The artist will be exhibiting at the forthcoming India Art Fair in April 2022. She has enjoyed success with major Galleries worldwide and at the beginning of 2022 she was selected for the CIMA Emerging Art Awards. Sonal is a storyteller. Her primary medium of choice is printmaking, exquisite etchings whose protagonists jump off the page to tell their stories. Like all good narratives that lucidly roll from one tale to the other the artist works in series. Be it her Kissa Goi or Emoticons series, each work comprises of many parts, all fitting together as one large work, or, equally as pleasing, as individual works that speak to each other in any combination of pattern. Likewise the artist works in watercolour on paper although these works are more individual and less part of a particular set. The artist explains that in the evenings the women gather on the roof terraces of her town to tell the tales that are passed down. These are stories that primarily revolve around the woman and their everyday role in a patriarchal society. These tales become mixed with the contemporary, both local and global events that effect the lives of the women. At first glance there is an anecdotal quality to the visual narratives but look a little longer and you will be rewarded by layer upon layer of meaning. Through the clever use of text and images of objects which may at first appear to be dislocated, the artist pulls together the narrative, expanding it into many different levels. Sonal’s is a very specific language, one which merges pop culture with traditional imagery. However there is nothing parochial about the artist’s work which places these local tales into her understanding of society at large and within a global context. Sonal Varshneya Ojha’s work is in many important collections. The artist was part of a recent show at Palette Art Gallery in Delhi, Collective 22 alongside some of India’s leading artists. Over the past two years she has exhibited in many shows across the Sub-Continent. In July 2021 Sonal was part of a show at MOSA in Belgium. In January 2022 she was selected for the CIMA Emerging Artist Award In India. She will be exhibiting at the India Art Fair in April 2022.