Color Vision – Tania Sen

Color Vision I, acrylic on canvas, 30 inches diameter

Color Vision II, acrylic on canvas, 30 inches diameter — Color Vision I, acrylic on canvas, 30 inches diameter

More of the same” – always a safe bet – familiar and predictable. So deep is the dependence on the “familiar and safe”, that the choice by default is always that which has been previously experienced – “true and tried” – a popular justifications! The consciousness however is forever expanding and morphing…it seeks new insights and new ways of being…even though the love of “typecast” makes one conform to accepted codes of decorum for fear of rejection. Need for validation curbs the capacity to love the self and others. These works, “I’m a lot like You”, “Tiger Tiger” and “Dusk” are mixed media paintings…all of them done on reclaimed canvases, depicting a changed perspective simply from being rendered over an existing image – an existing story that no longer holds…

On another level, these works actually use type as a visual tool. The Arabic script of the title of “Quran”, the Islamic holy text, words resonating William Blake’s poem – “The Tiger” and words hidden in the negative space inside a shape depicting the national flag. Liberation and tolerance, “untypecast” is the common string in these works.

“See Me
Feel Me
Touch Me
Heal Me
Listening to you, I get the music
Gazing at you, I get the heat
Following you, I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet
Right behind you, I see the millions
On you, I see the glory
From you, I get opinion
From you, I get the story”

Color Vision at the Umass Art Center — Color Vision at the Umass Fine Art Museum

Mixed Media on reclaimed canvas, 36x36 inches — Color Vision at the Umass Fine Art Museum

My artistic exploration focuses on sustainability's deep connection to a place’s identity. My photographic documentation focuses on grassroot businesses that often promote greener manufacturing, and preserves heritage. Some preliminary photo essays on the topic featured in the Smithsonian publication.

I started my journey at age four, misdiagnosed with diphtheria and confined to a hospital bed in Bihar, India. Even then, it was my dream to make art. After losing my father in my teens, I had to support my family. With a young brother and a stay-at-home mother, I worked writing press releases for the Indian Railways while completing my English degree at Calcutta University.

With an academic scholarship from New York Institute of Technology, I took a leap of faith and moved to NYC for graduate school. After graduation, I spent over twenty years in advertising before transitioning to teaching and art therapy in 2001. I taught Advertising Design at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ, and practiced art therapy with autistic children at the Morris Union Jointure Commission in Warren, NJ.

Embracing contemporary narratives, I experimented with form and media, finding mentors who helped me realize my artistic goals. Essentially self-taught, my works exhibited at the Newark Museum (NJ),
The Royal Scottish Academy, Tate (UK) Mumbai Museum (India) Contemporary Art Museum S. Korea, Torpedo Art Factory, Monmouth Museum (NJ) Haggin Museum (CA), Lalit Kala Academy h (India), Feminist Art Project, Goggleworks, Prince Street Gallery, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, NYC etc.

As a founder member of SIPMA Contemporary, I curated interdisciplinary art exhibits and collaborated on experimental dance and performance art at places like Swarthmore College and the Soho 20 gallery in NYC. My performance art video debuted at the Venice Art Fair in 2024. For more on international exhibitions, click here.