Mohan Sikka

Artist in Residence
Summer 2023

Mohan is inspired by the geometry and vibrancy of natural forms, such as flowers, insects, organs and neurons, and how color, pattern and repetition can represent energy, power and movement. He has been sketching and painting since he was a child, and his art took a step forward during the COVID years when he began taking online classes at The Art Studio NY. Mohan's current work explores how life force and stress energy can be contained on the page, using an interplay of rigid geometry, free-forms, bright colors and shading. Mohan brings his childhood experiences of tribal and "domestic" art to his painting, especially in the use of vibrant colors and patterns, and believes in art as therapy: the ability of the creative process to express and discharge what would otherwise remain trapped in the body as tension, anxiety and obsession. Mohan will use his residency at Burnt Sienna to work in new media and a range of techniques. Mohan lives in New York City and is also a published author and essayist.