about Me
Riya is an Agra-based self-taught artist, currently living in Perth, Australia. She paints with traditional art mediums such as watercolours, acrylics, and oil pastels, etc. Her works revolve around the philosophical questions about the nature of life and her inner experiences. She likes to explore and experiment using outlandish techniques and materials with creativity at the forefront – giving the formless a visual representation.
Who am I?
Even I don’t know. Perhaps that is what I am searching for.
To frame it more precisely: What is which is.
I have been a curious child, questioning everything around me—often to the irritation of others. The questions that found no answers slowly transformed into paintings. What began as imitation, and the pure joy of creating, grew into a powerful tool for inquiry and expression. My journey with art perhaps began the day I was born. I have always remembered myself creating. School days, with that one art period each week, teachers who guided me, and the opportunity to pursue painting alongside other subjects, helped keep the spark alive.
Once, a teacher told me to stop copying, to create original work, and to discover my own style. That brief encounter changed something within me. I began to experiment, to explore, and to truly express myself.
Through my artwork, I started asking questions of myself. And as I created, the answers slowly revealed themselves. Art became a space where I could speak without fear—where I could express what words could not hold.
Art is everything to me.
It is my inquiry, my language, my refuge.
It is my essence.