Early Life and Background
Site Of The Day
After a successful career as an art director in advertising and a foray into publishing, Rina Upadhyaya rediscovered her passion for art during the pandemic. Her early works, shaped by a deep fascination with avian life and human emotion, began with portraits of birds and people. A move to Gurgaon deepened her engagement with the everyday. Peeling back the city’s shiny exterior and tropes that confine the city in the popular imagination, she turns her gaze to the overlooked corners – its streets, gardens, and fleeting moments – often capturing ordinary women in evocative moments. Her practice draws equally from provincial life and pop culture, celebrating the peculiarities of the quotidian. Working mostly with gouache, watercolour, and pen, she brings the spirit of experimentation to her practice. She is guided by a quiet commitment to sustainability, often choosing the unexpected canvas of used packaging, or her current favourite kraft paper with its raw, tactile aesthetic. Not surprising for someone whose true inspiration lies in nature, whether in the intimate ecology of her garden or the wildness beyond.
Indian artist
Indian artist