Sunil Padwal

Sunil Padwal is a contemporary artist known for his powerful, simple and bold paintings. Born 1968 in Maharashtra, India he completed his fine art as well as applied art training from the Sir JJ School of Art. Padwal’s oeuvre comprises sculptures, installations, paintings as well as line drawings.

Padwal looks for inspiration in the mundane, taking time to observe and grasp the world around him, which he creatively assimilates into his practice. His work captures the monotonicity of humans and animals, the ever-changing skylines, the fast and always moving traffic and the pollution that looms over our modern-day world.

The human figure is a common theme in Padwal's work, possessing different layers, building a series of colours. Sometimes, they are scratched out, creating a complex design that is not just flat paper but with multiple dimensions of a curved surface. The human figures are assertive and influential, revealing their mysterious forms. Refusing to title his artworks, Padwal desires to keep them open to flexible interpretations, restraining restricted meanings.

Depicting national crises and sensitive political discourses, it is tricky to define Padwal's style! He experiments with new forms of expression and looks into the magical places inquisitively. Drawing inspiration from a variety of visual sources,  his practice is ever-transforming and assimilating.

Padwal is an award-winning Indian artist with the Communication Artist Guild Award, Emerging Artist of The Year Award and the Society Young Achiever’s Award as feathers on his hat. Also, he has had multiple solo and group exhibitions in India as well as in Spain. A notable exhibition, Myopia, was held in Mumbai in 2008, which explored Mumbai’s terror attacks, representing inhumane violence. 

Sunil Padwal lives and works in Mumbai, India.