Statement
My early years in India— in a wild natural world, vivid Indian mythology and different religions— played a decisive role in my life as a painter. I emigrated to the US as a teenager and eventually became a lawyer. However, painting has proven to be my true calling and for this I am infinitely grateful. My creative life thrives on chaos within a highly disciplined studio practice. Color, texture and the glorious mysteries of paint allow me to explore themes of nature, spirituality and the existential human condition. Painting is the primary medium through which I communicate; however, my creative life goes where it will. My work blends traditional and tactile techniques with modern conceptual themes and all work draws inspiration from music, literature and art history. I am drawn to ancient cultures (Vedic, Egyptian, Greek, Roman etc.) for an understanding of the contemporary experience. My goal as a human, as well as an artist, is to experience and express the poetic, inchoate and eternal.
Bio
Amrita Singhal is a painter, printmaker and mixed media artist based in Berkeley, California. She studied drawing and art history with the brilliant and reclusive painter Louise Smith who was a colleague of the Bay Area Abstract Expressionists (Diebenkorn, Park, Bischoff et al.) and a one time student of Hans Hoffman and Erle Loran at UC Berkeley. Two of Amrita’s paintings are in the collection of the UC Berkeley Art Museum (BAM). She has painted a Berkeley Public Works Art mural for Meyer Sound and regularly exhibits her work in solo, group and juried shows. Amrita is also creating a series of immersive works in virtual reality.
Resumé
Education:
J.D., University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, CA
Board of Directors:
Kala Art Institute (2018–current)
Green Science Policy Institute (2016–2018)
Berkeley Community Scholars (2007–2016)
Berkeley Public Art Mural: The Rama Mural @ Meyer Sound, 1035 Heinz Ave, Berkeley, CA (2023)
2026 Shows (Upcoming):
January (group show), “Of the world—preserving tactility in the digital age”, 35 Meadow Street, Brooklyn, NY
February (solo show), The Faculty Club, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.
March (two-person show), ‘Tactile’, with artist Ellen Lake at 1942 Bonita Art Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Solo Shows
2025:
February and August, The Faculty Club, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
2024:
MANNY’S, 3092 16th St., San Francisco, CA.
The Faculty Club, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.
SHOH Gallery, 700 Gilman Street, Berkeley, Nothing Lasts, Everything Matters
2023:
The Faculty Club, University of California, Berkeley, CA
2021:
Seek, Memory, SHOH Gallery, 700 Gilman St, Berkeley, CA
2020:
The Faculty Club, University of California, Berkeley, CA
2019:
Between The Real and Imagined, SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2016:
Studies and Observations, SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Juried Shows
2025:
Identities, Livermore Valley Arts Cultural Association, Livermore, CA
Artists’ Vision, Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael, CA
2024:
Dualities, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA
A Gathering of Color, Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA
2023:
The Space Between, Arc Project Gallery, San Francisco, CA
SFWA Annual Bay Area Artists' Choice 2023, San Francisco Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Landscape Perspectives, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA
Art and Cultures of the World, Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael, CA (*Third Prize Award)
Kala Annual Auction, Kala Art Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2022:
42nd Faber Birren National Color Show, Stamford Art Association, Stamford, Winter Group Show, Kala Art Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Art Kala Auction, Kala Art Gallery, Berkeley CA
2021:
Third Annual Online Exhibition, Idaherma Museum of Art Foundation, Princeton, NJ
Extraction, Art on the Edge of the Abyss, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA
41st Annual Faber Birren Color Award Exhibit, Stamford Art Association, Stamford, CT
2nd Annual Juried Fresno Printmakers Guild Exhibition, Fresno, CA
People of the Indus Valley Civilization or My family on a Picnic in 1963 (*Juror’s Choice Award), Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA
Cimarron National Works on Paper Exhibition, (*Honorable Mention), Gardiner Gallery at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Joy, Edward A. Dixon Gallery, Dayton, OH
7th Salon International Art Resilience, Musee de Peinture de Saint-Frajou, Saint-Frajou, France
Artopia, San Fernando Valley Arts and Cultural Center, Tarzana, CA
Expressions, Marin Society of Artists, San Rafael, CA.
Freestyles, Flager County Art League, Palm Coast, FL
Uplift/Heavy Lift, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
Text, St Louis Artist Guild, St. Louis, MI
Cultural Heritage, Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg, CA
Winter Group Show, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
2020:
Great Outdoors, Medford Art Center, Medford, NJ
Story of Women, Milford Arts Council, Milford, CT.
Who Are You, Sebastapol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA
Fragments, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Bold Expressions, Sacramento Arts Center, Sacramento, CA
Winter Group Show, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA