Reuben Sinha

After graduating from New York University in 1988, Reuben Sinha, a New York-based artist, studied art under Frank Mason at the Arts Students League of New York and trained in the traditional oil painting techniques of the European Old Masters. In 1992, he received the Leagues’ Edward G. MacDowell Travel Grant to study directly from paintings across Europe.

In 1997, Sinha received a Fulbright fellowship to study Tantric Art in India for 2 years. Although he always admired the complexity of composition and symbolism of Indian art, those same principles seemed to counter everything he was taught in art school. Tantra defines the universe and man as composed of psychological characteristics, mainly Purush and Prakriti (masculinity and femininity; potential and kinetic energy) -- the two sides of our psyche and the two traits that are thought to balance the universe. By viewing the world in psychological parts that exist within us as human beings, one can see everything as being a part of oneself. Eventually, Sinha was spurred by Tantra and its notions of masculinity and femininity to take a further interest in psychology. He turned towards Western psychologists, such as C. G. Jung, to learn more about the unconscious experiences of spirituality, masculinity, and femininity.

Eventually, Sinha used portraits and nudes as a means of exploring those unconscious experiences and began to incorporate those themes into his paintings. His recent portraits and nudes also reflect an experimental shift in his use of color.  In addition, Sinha used the colors of the Indian landscape palette to symbolize psychological qualities. Although he hopes to carry on the techniques of traditional oil painting, he plans to expand those techniques to further express his own views and times.