Manju Narain is a sensitive and introspective artist with a penchant for the unusual and thought-provoking image. Within the apparent calm and stillness of her repertoire lie hidden, complex psychological elements of terror, awe, and fantasy. Such is the depth of her understanding, both of painting as well as music. Manju carves-out her private artistic temperament within the traditional Indian structure of a woman's familial responsibilities.
She is the wife of a famous lawyer, a mother of two daughters and two sons, a grandmother, and a mother-in-law. She plays all these roles, simultaneously, while finding release in her first true love: Art.
She has trained in painting under the artist Rameshwar Broota at Delhi 's Traveni Kala Sangam, and in vocal classical music under the late Sarfaraz Hussain Khan Saheb, and now, under the well-know ghazal Ustads Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain.
Manju's works on paper bear the soft touch of charcoal, pencil, pastel and watercolours, depicting strange innocent beings and wistfully-illustrative fairytale creatures, trapped silently within claustrophobic gardens and troubling mazes, as if striving for some means of escape and true expression.
Which, initially appears as an idyll in her images actually reveals underlying strains of suffocation, albeit beneath an apparent blanket of security. The resultant expressions and mudras often bear elements of anguish, terror, fear, and deep pathos. There is a childlike feeling of bewilderment at all the complex intrigues and the deceptions of the world. Manju's attempts to express her genuine reactions and observations are her own personal path towards Catharsis.
Manju comes form a traditional Mathur Kayastha family with a considerable heritage in the Arts. Her in laws include such artists and writers as Sharan Rani, Guru Singhajit Singhji, Sushma Seth, and Maheshwar Dayal.
She has held exhibitions in 1998 at Jehangir Art Gallery , Mumbai and Surekh Art Gallery , Jaipur, as well as in many group shows. She runs her own art gallery and musical salon at STUDIO 55 in Delhi 's Sundernagar.
Manju is a staunch supporter, admirer and friend of artists and intellectual pursuits. Her self-chosen absorption in this complex field is a heartfelt and genuine attempt at ‘Sudhana', or a quest for a self that strives higher and wider than the mundane, worldly pursuits of ‘Samsara'.
Her efforts in such an idealistic direction are laudable, particularly when viewed as an alternative lifestyle and thought-process within the traditional Indian milieu.
