Artist Statement

Samanta Batra Mehta's work explores the themes of identity and gender-based representation as seen in myth, divinity, reality and as propagated by culture- both historical and contemporary. She is also interested in mapping connections between human condition and the environment we inhabit. Using the body as a metaphor for the earth/landscape, her works investigate the politics of creation, germination, degradation, plunder and transgression.

She draws from a broad range of influences including myth, the natural world, antiquarian illustration, religious iconography, mystical philosophies and the culture in which she was raised (India) and in which she now lives (USA).

Biography:

Samanta Batra Mehta was born in New Delhi, India in 1975. She has exhibited her work at various international venues including at Bodhi Art Gallery in Bombay, the Queens Museum, AIR Gallery, Guild Art, Crossing Art Gallery in New York and at the Salon Du Dessin Contemporain in Paris. Samanta has degrees in Economics and Information Systems from St Xavier's College, Bombay and the London School of Economics, London. She has attended various in art-making classes and workshops including the year-long Aesthetics of Indian Visual Art at the Bombay University and Summer School in Life Drawing and Painting at the Central St. Martins, London. She has also been trained in traditional Byzantine icon-making at the Prosopon School of Iconology, New York. Before deciding to pursue art full-time in mid-2008, Samanta worked in Banking, Venture Capital and International Shipping. She currently lives in New York, USA.