Mumbai-based self-taught artist and bureaucrat Vandana Krishna opened her solo exhibition “Reflections” at the India International Centre – Annexe Art Gallery on November 24, 2025. Inaugurated by Padmashri Geeta Chandran, renowned classical dancer and cultural icon, the exhibition will remain open for visitors until November 30, offering an intimate visual journey through the artist’s evolving reflections.
The opening evening drew an impressive lineup of distinguished guests, including Dr. Sanjeev Chopra, Senior Fellow at the Prime Minister’s Museum & Library and EC Member of the IIC; Dr. Anup Wadhawan, Former Commerce Secretary; Ms. Neerja Chowdhury, award-winning journalist, author and commentator; Rajiv Chandran, Writer, Critic & Commentator; Adil Khan, Designer & Art Connoisseur; Navina Jafa, Cultural Activist, Author and Renowned Performing Artist; Manoj Kumar Tripathy, Founder and Editor of Indian Creative Minds; Georgina Maddox, Critic & Curator; and Dr. Ved Prakash, Writer & Artist. Their presence added depth and significance to the launch of this contemplative artistic showcase.
The idea for “Reflections” began during a quiet moment when Vandana Krishna found herself revisiting her past — from her Delhi roots to her years of administrative service across Maharashtra, and her present life in Mumbai. “Those early years of learning new languages, adapting to new cultures, and finding my place in a different world shaped both the person and the artist I became,” she says. “Mumbai, with its pace, energy, and contradictions, became my muse, after all it is a city that reflects life in motion.”
The exhibition captures Mumbai’s shifting moods — its shimmering towers, monsoon-soaked streets, mirrored surfaces and fleeting distortions that hold both serenity and movement. With a semi-abstract style, Vandana invites viewers to look beyond the surface and discover emotion, poetry and stillness within the city’s ever-changing visuals.
Influenced by Van Gogh, Monet, Vermeer, Matisse and Klimt, as well as Indian masters like M.F. Husain and F.N. Souza, her work balances bold expression with subtlety. Her compositions sit at the intersection of abstraction and representation, merging discipline with creative spontaneity.
For Vandana Krishna, painting is more than an artistic pursuit — it is a space of mindfulness, balance and reflection. Over the past eighteen years, she has continued to nurture her art alongside a demanding public service career, finding in it a source of stillness and meaning.
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