Dhanashree Gadiyar

Rooted in her childhood in India and shaped by living across countries in the past few years, Dhanashree Gadiyar is a mixed media painter and focuses on creating "Magical escape pods" — lush, imaginative painted worlds informed by her journey into motherhood, childhood classics, and the visual vocabulary of travel. Moving between the intimate and the expansive, she works primarily on large-scale paintings in acrylic and oil, alongside smaller works in watercolor and gouache. She creates layered environments filled with narrative details — dreamy landscapes, childhood toys, patterns, and fragments of memory — that invite nostalgia. In a world that often feels mundane, she hopes her work offers a temporary refuge from realities: a place to return to child-like wonder.

Gadiyar holds an M.F.A. in Fine Arts from The City College of New York (CUNY), where she received scholarships. She also earned an M.A. in Museology (India) and a B.F.A. in Painting from the University of Mysore, India. Her fellowships include The Bronx Museum and The Laundromat Project (NYC). Alongside her studio practice, she has served as Program Director at the outsider art organisation ArTech (AHRNYC, New York). She has led teaching workshops with the Harlem Museum and Pelham Art Center, and has taught art to children and adults in her studio in Mysore.

She has participated in group exhibitions at The Bronx Museum; Transformer Gallery (Washington, D.C.); La Esquina; The Gallery at Living Outpost; and Saffron Gallery (New York City). More recently, she has exhibited in group shows at Half Moon Theatre, Broadworks Gallery, and Bakery Art Gallery in London. Her work is held in private collections in the United States and India.

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