The Art of invisible fights: Artist Spotlight on Vanshita Jain
Artist Bio: I am a practicing artist based from New Delhi, India. I have graduated with from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, with a BFA in the year 2020. My work is a lot about the feeling and emotions I feel on an everyday bases. With my work I want to break this taboo around mental health and the invisible fights people go through which is not given as much importance as any other health issue.
My art practice has changed a lot over the last few years. Earlier my works were full of colours and were abstract in nature however, now I have moved onto expressing my feelings in the most raw way. My inspiration arises from observing people around me and how they react to certain emotions and how their body language changes with the way they feel. Some artists who have been a big influence in my art practice in terms of process and the outcome are; William De Kooning, Joan Mitchel, Robert Longo and Jackson Pollock.
Artist Statement
Vanshita Jain is a practicing multi-disciplinary artist based out of New Delhi, India. Her work showcases her struggles with anxiety and body image issues. For years now she has been dealing with body image issues and anxiety which sometimes is hard to combat. The way she deals with her mental health is by drawing her feelings. Her drawings show the inner feelings which are invisible to the naked eye. The battle between her brain and herself is a constant. The heaviness of the brain and how it controls her body, the voice in her head which is constantly fighting with herself is what her work is about. She is interested in how every organ, every part of the body feels and reacts to certain emotions.Through her work she tries to break the taboo around mental health and body image issues. Brain as an organ which is usually neglected by society as an important body part plays an important role in her work. The enlarged brain is the main focus in her work and is something you witness in most of her pieces
Vanshita’s creative process
My work is extremely personal. It took me a long time to finally accept my feelings and be okay with sharing it with the world. The way I think about art is that it should be rooted, in the sense that it should come from somewhere where the artist’s heart really is. My creative process comes from my struggles and something that I find hard to accept. I draw whenever I’m at my lowest, I try to draw what I’m feeling at that point or sometimes I dig deep in the past and try to recall and feel all the emotions and then pen it down. I am constantly sketching in my journal, I am very interested in the way our body re-structures itself with every emotion it feels. Most of my work stems from my writing or my sketchbook.
Recent work on Natalie’s #Heartlist
William de Kooning
Shilpa Gupta
Joan Mitchell
Dhruvi Acharya
Find Vanshita on:
Instagram: @Vanshitajain
INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR MIXED MEDIA ARTISTS
A collaboration between @artstoheartsproject & @ilikeyourwork
Guest curator: @erika , Founder of @ilikeyourwork
Theme: FACADE
Eligibility: Mixed media artists from around the world
Deadline: 30th of October, 2021 12 midnight EST