Dear Black Child - Eesha Suntai

Eesha Suntai focuses on subject matter possessing bold, evocative and unapologetically dramatic color. This exhibition will include portraiture reflecting on her perspective of growing up as a person of color – a black child in America. 


October 27 - December 10 | Opening Reception: Wednesday, October 27, 5-7 p.m. ET

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Artist Statement
I have been fortunate enough to realize where my voice echoes strongest, with greatest vibrato, and highest pitch. My voice can be heard fiercely through my paintings, which allows me to rediscover my love for color and texture.

 

I once drew inspiration from movie stills, re-creating those images to capture a snap shot of a particular emotion. My portraiture has evolved into reflecting on my perspective of growing up as a person of color; a black child in America.

I prefer to interweave stories of my culture; paying homage to our history, celebrating our endlessly-dope style, detailing the social and health inequities that we continue to fight against, and lastly what brings us joy.

The subject matter I choose possesses color that can be described as evocative, bold, and unapologetically dramatic. By rediscovering how colors can be manipulated on a surface, and using those colors to tell a story is how I fall in love with painting over and over again. 

Click here to read an article by Elizabeth Beanland in the Daily Collegian.

Bio
New York based painter, Eesha Suntai, began exploring her passion for art as a young girl while watching her mother in her beauty salon. As her mother transformed the hairstyles of her clients, Eesha began to sketch the “Before & After” in her sketchbook, creating her own tutorial of each step of her mother’s process. The idea of “capturing natural beauty” remained with her as she cultivated her creative talents into adulthood.

With both acrylic and oil paint as her primary painting mediums, Eesha’s focus is to utilize bright and bold hues to promote calm and healing, while simultaneously interweaving complex issues of identity and self-awareness specifically affecting the African American community. 

Over the years, her technique has evolved into a style combination of Realist & Hyperrealist Portraiture. Using an extensive color palette across large scale paintings, she creates a tension between the person in the painting and the observer-where the painting stares out to the world in a transfixed glare. Within the confines of Eesha Suntai’s paintings there are nods to Black culture, which she believes, “Adds another invisible layer to story-telling that compels me to continue painting”.

In 2012, Suntai received her BFA in Studio Art from Adelphi University- with honors. 
Currently, she is a featured artist with the KAC Gallery of Fellow Artists, and has shown in art exhibitions all around the New York and New Jersey Tri-State area.