About

Dhanya Das (b. 1990)
A self-taught artist, I began painting at the age of three, drawn to the rich stories of Indian mythology and culture. Though I completed my MTech from IIT Kanpur, my true calling has always been art. Working exclusively in oil painting, my practice blends realism with spirituality. Since 2016, painting has become more than a passion. It is a meditative ritual, an exploration of soul and tradition. Through my work, I strive to honour India’s traditional beauty and preserve its timeless narratives.

I drew inspiration from Western academic realism and the 19th–century naturalists. Having spent a significant part of my childhood in a village near Kilimanoor, I grew up listening to stories of Raja Ravi Varma, whose art stirred my imagination early on. Though self-taught, I’ve enriched my practice through self studies, workshops with internationally recognised artists and mentorship with Florence-based representational artist Andrii Kateryniuk. My art is rooted in reverence, shaped by tradition, and guided by the quiet urge to express the ineffable.

I strive for a realism that goes beyond technique – art that breathes, that evokes emotion. One that invites quiet recognition and stirs something within. While I admire the discipline of classical realism, my inspiration comes from the soul of Indian epics, particularly the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the spiritual wisdom they carry. My visual language borrows structure from the West, but the feeling, the story, and the emotional essence remain wholly Indian.

Art, for me, is not just about aesthetics. It’s about telling stories that carry depth. Stories that come from the gods, from memory, from a place beyond the surface. I paint to reconnect with the past, with emotion, with a sense of the sacred. And if my work stirs something within you, then perhaps we’ve already met, on canvas, between brushstrokes, and in a shared silence only art can offer.

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Dhanya Das (b. 1990)
A self-taught artist, I began painting at the age of three, drawn to the rich stories of Indian mythology and culture. Though I completed my MTech from IIT Kanpur, my true calling has always been art. Working exclusively in oil painting, my practice blends realism with spirituality. Since 2016, painting has become more than a passion. It is a meditative ritual, an exploration of soul and tradition. Through my work, I strive to honour India’s traditional beauty and preserve its timeless narratives.

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I drew inspiration from Western academic realism and the 19th–century naturalists. Having spent a significant part of my childhood in a village near Kilimanoor, I grew up listening to stories of Raja Ravi Varma, whose art stirred my imagination early on. Though self-taught, I’ve enriched my practice through self studies, workshops with internationally recognised artists and mentorship with Florence-based representational artist Andrii Kateryniuk. My art is rooted in reverence, shaped by tradition, and guided by the quiet urge to express the ineffable.

Thumbnail

I strive for a realism that goes beyond technique – art that breathes, that evokes emotion. One that invites quiet recognition and stirs something within. While I admire the discipline of classical realism, my inspiration comes from the soul of Indian epics, particularly the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the spiritual wisdom they carry. My visual language borrows structure from the West, but the feeling, the story, and the emotional essence remain wholly Indian.

Thumbnail

Art, for me, is not just about aesthetics. It’s about telling stories that carry depth. Stories that come from the gods, from memory, from a place beyond the surface. I paint to reconnect with the past, with emotion, with a sense of the sacred. And if my work stirs something within you, then perhaps we’ve already met, on canvas, between brushstrokes, and in a shared silence only art can offer.