Ritu Raj

My paintings reflect my view that art is a vehicle for probing the nature of human existence. I grew up in New Delhi as the son of the art critic K.B. Goel, a champion of Abstract Expressionist painting in India, and was introduced at an early age to the idea that the artist is an explorer who seeks to uncover universal truths and give visual form to the ineffable. Abstraction has run through everything I have done, in business and in paint, and since 2020 I have given it my whole time, at RituStudio in Phoenix.

My process is improvisational. Although I may visualize an image before I begin, I work spontaneously and enjoy watching the imagery unfold before my eyes. In my Organic Movement series, thread replaces the brush and gravity completes the mark. Abstract Inquiry is slower work in oil and acrylic. In keeping with the idea that I am an explorer, I also work with photographs printed on canvas and embellished with paint. My abstract imagery ranges from gestural to geometric, although occasionally something figurative will emerge. I prefer bold, vibrant colors because I want my work to be joyful and awe-inspiring.

Philosophically, my art is influenced by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), who argued that art is an organic process for uncovering being, for revealing the deeper meanings of life that are normally obscured in our daily routines. Through my art, I seek to challenge perceptions, evoke emotions, and invite reflection on reality, consciousness, and spirituality. Ultimately, I hope my paintings inspire others to embrace the beauty of abstraction in both art and life.

I am also the creator of ArtGraph, a language system for encountering abstract art, and the author of The Shape of Seeing and The Unalgorithmic Self.

Abstract paintings available at RituStudio, Phoenix, Arizona, and Jarrow & Goodman, Los Angeles