Close observation of Naina Maithani’s paintings evokes an understanding of meeting points: not merely the dramatic exchanges of earth and sky at a horizon, but connections between what is real and imagined, between the expression of the physical and the spiritual, and the linking of microcosm with macrocosm. As a native to the mountainous region of the Himalayas, she is organically attuned to vast landscapes, the grandeur of nature, and the insignificance of human presence in this immensity.

... And over the years, Naina has developed a repertoire that explores internal truths and feelings through the expressive depiction of the natural world. The foundation of her work is the evocative use of colour, whether applied in smooth, uninterrupted fields or textural layers. Employing intuitive devices of transparency, juxtaposition and contrast, she experiments with ranges of luminosity and depth, creating sensitive, abstract colour-scapes that showcase a fluid balance of freedom and control with brushwork. Naina has the ability to play with moods and atmospheres, her life philosophies becoming embedded within the simplicity or sophistication of the depicted scene.

As an artist responding to the environment, Naina subconsciously captures the cycles of life, the magic of birth and growth; the immersive yet transitory quality of the living world. She draws the viewer into an experiential pause, rooted in silent contemplation, away from contemporary (urban) chaos. Her paintings are not just the harmonious creation of colour fields, but infused with spiritual intentions and energy that comes from her practice as a pranic healer since 2013. “Far from being hard to comprehend, abstracts create a heightened unified field where we experience multiple perspectives and layers of thought and feeling all at once. On my canvases, assorted elements and aspects of the world coalesce and melt into a vortex of colours, textures, shapes, drips and blurred edges.” She explains.

Looking back into her journey, it was when surrounded by artworks during her sojourn with an art gallery, and observing nuances in the work of master artists like Ram Kumar, Paramjeet Singh and S.H. Raza among others, that Naina Maithani was drawn to vocabularies of visual abstraction. Living later in Vietnam, south-east Asia, her further interaction with painting came through an organic opportunity to learn, where she once again turned toward the application of colours in non- representative, spontaneous form.

With an active practice since 2010, Naina has been part of numerous exhibitions with galleries across India, as well as Dubai and Vietnam, where her artistic practice began. She also participates regularly in art residencies, camps, and cultural charity events. In the last decade and half, her work has garnered a successful history with several auction houses. Naina’s paintings have become part of private and corporate collections in India, the United States, Britain, Europe, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, and Thailand, among other regions. She currently lives and works in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

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