Harini Narayan
Harini Narayan is a talented artist who has lived in the United Kingdom for a significant part of her life. She is quickly building a lauded reputation for her paintings and photography, both of which tend to focus on bringing to life the people, places and events that she has encountered during her journeys around the world.
While a doctor by profession, Narayan boasts a broad – and growing – portfolio of art pieces that already have a strong record for catching people’s attention. Narayan tends to use various mediums in her paintings, including graphite, acrylic and oils, to produce figurative realism. Currently, her preferred style is oil on canvas.
Narayan’s artwork proudly hangs in numerous homes, including on walls in the UK and India. While much of her work is a fascinating exploration of her adventures and passions, she is also skilled at portraits and has been commissioned to produce these.
As well as exhibiting her work in person, Narayan’s next artistic venture is an upcoming book about her solo travels to remote and off-limit places in the world, which her photographs will illustrate.
Born in India, Narayan’s art – both her paintings and her photography – are enriched by her various passions and experiences. The places she’s visited, the people she’s seen and the sights she’s witnessed are all different dimensions that can be observed within her work.
Uniquely, she can capture a personal moment – be it a fleeting glance, a mood, or the personality or spirit of a person. It’s often the case that viewers are drawn into a rare world that’s often quite unlike their own, yet in a way where they are both invested and enlightened by the story being told.
Just some of the places that she skillfully brings to life include countries such as Bhutan, Pakistan, Iran, India, Cambodia, Jordan and Egypt. These can be through her enchanting photographs or through paintings that she has created from memory or parts of her photographs.
In many cases, Narayan can engage people with global or social concerns through her artwork. However, in other cases, the subject can simply be a means for her to explore her passion – such as her staunch interest in archaeology, which has led to research into ancient civilizations and their monumental ruins.
This passion is one of the significant influences that has motivated her to undertake solo journeys to some of the world’s most dangerous and remote places, where she is often entirely off any safe
Harini Narayan
tourist trail. Her photography has recorded the art, architecture and scripts of these many enchanting ancient sites that are rapidly disappearing due to wanton human destruction or neglect.
In addition, she is an avid deep-sea diver and her ‘Marine Magic’ series reflects this experience. She has dived into several shipwrecks in the world’s oceans and over ancient sunken underwater cities off the coast of India.
Despite excelling in art through her childhood and earning a scholarship to train in art, Narayan is a doctor by profession and has worked in the NHS for decades as a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist.
Much like her success in the art world, there’s been no shortage of success in her medical career. She has received national and international acclaim for her medical services and innovations. Narayan has also published a significant speciality textbook on obstetrics.
Artist statement:
“My art represents various aspects of life’s journey, the world and its rich tapestry. I have loved painting since childhood, and my long career as a doctor has given me deep insight into observing people – the littlest nuance like a fleeting glance, a smile, a frown, a gesture, can all carry a mood and tell a story. I attempt to capture this as each photograph or painting carries a memory and tells a story.
The subjects are unique, mainly people or places encountered during my journeys to remote places to see and record disappearing remains of ancient civilizations before they become wastelands, victims of man’s prejudices, greed or neglect. I have been lucky thus far in travelling on my own, armed with my Leica SLR and have escaped some challenging situations because of the kindness of strangers. These solo adventures into less-trodden places have inspired me greatly for my artwork and photography.
The ‘Marine Magic’ series of paintings are inspired by my deep-sea diving and are of underwater imagery or the places I have dived in. These paintings have been inspired by the specialized underwater photographs taken by my diving buddy, my husband. Most images of a diver, if seen in the painting, would therefore be of the artist herself – me!
Primarily self-taught, I have experimented and evolved my art over the years, painting mainly with oils on canvas, less often with acrylics or graphite.
My favourite subjects are people, the young and old and those in between. I paint unusual landscapes if they carry exciting stories, attempting to create a deliberate structure to introduce rare, less familiar scenes to the viewer, such as the Underwater series.
I aim to inspire those who see my art to pause and look more carefully at the world around me, to share my passion for unusual places and amazing people.”
HARINI NARAYAN AVICTIMOFSANCTIONS, HAMADAN, IRAN , 2021 Print
HARINI NARAYAN
ANARCHEDWINDOWANDKIDS, THIMPHU, BHUTAN , 2021 Print
HARINI
ANENIGMAANDHISDONKEY, BUKHARA, UZBEKISTAN, 2021
HARINI NARAYAN
ANCIENTBUDDHISTSTUPAATSANNATI, SOUTHINDIA, 2021
BRASSWATERCONTAINERS, THARDESERT, INDIA, 2021
HARINI NARAYAN
MUQARNAS(HONEYCOMBVAULTING)INISFAHAN, IRAN, 2021
HARINI NARAYAN
PRAYERFLAGS(DHAR)ATPAROTAKTSANG, BHUTAN, 2021
HARINI NARAYAN
PRAYERWHEELANDBEADS, PUNAKA, BHUTAN, 2021
HARINI NARAYAN
SMELTINGGOLD, PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN , 2021
HARINI NARAYAN STONECHIMERA, SRIRANGAM, SOUTHINDIA, 2021
HARINI
THEHANDOFFATIMA, CAIRO, EGYPT, 2021
HARINI NARAYAN
THEQUEEN’SSTEPWELL, PATAN, GUJARAT, 2021 Print
UMBRELLASFORELEPHANTS, KERALA, INDIA, 2021
