Artist's Profile

Kiran Soni Gupta is an artist, prolific writer, keen photographer and an activist administrator. She is an officer from the 1985 batch of the Indian Administrative Service presently posted in Rajasthan. She has worked in different assignments in Government of India, Government of Kerala and Rajasthan. She has been District Collector of two districts and Divisional Commissioner of Jaipur and Jodhpur. The National Productivity Council NPC and  NABARD have recognized her with National awards for her administrative and developmental initiatives.

Harvard University selected her in 2005 for the prestigious Mason Fellowship to study for a Master’s in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government. She was also awarded a popular scholarship in 2004 for a Master’s in Public Policy at the Maxwell School, Syracuse.

In addition to her professional responsibilities, she has kept  up her interest in painting as an artist for more than two decades. It has been a journey of exploring her soul and the environment through her varied administrative experiences. Her works can be accessed on website www.kiransoniarts.com.

Kiran's artwork" Poojatime" was been selected for exhibition at the most famous and most visited  Le Louvre Museum in Paris France in Dec 2012. Kiran has been recently honored with the "Nari Prathibha Samman"  in 2012 and was conferred with the" Kala Samridhi Award in 2010, " Artist of the Year 2009" and “Special Achiever Award 2009". She was also given the “Kala Shiromani Award" in 2008. One of her paintings on the ‘Famine’ depicting its impact on women and children in India won the National Award in 2003. Another painting ‘Matters of Heart' was commended in the All India Fine Arts Exhibition in 2004.  The Times of India has brought out a trilogy of books “Beyond Strokes",” Kiran's Art Renderings" and "Women - God's Finest Creation" based on themes in her artworks.

The artist has held more than two dozen solo art shows in major cities in India and in foreign countries including New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, Tehran, Kandy, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Her latest exhibit “Desert Symphony" at the National Museum New Delhi was inaugurated by Dr. Karan Singh in April 2011. Dr. Swaraj Paul in 2010 had presided over her exhibit at Nehru Centre London. She has had three exhibits in Mumbai that  had received an overwhelming response Besides she also held shows at New Delhi, Naggar, Ludhiana, Kulu and many other places.

Kiran has also promoted art through events in many places, including  "Kala Kumb' in Bikaner, a congregation of 150 artists from across India organized through community support. Her paintings on the “Famine" depicting its impact on women and children in India, won her a National Award in 2003. Another painting the “Matters of Heart" was commended in the All India Fine Arts Exhibition. She was also a visiting artist at the East West Centre, Hawaii. Her artworks auctions in Cambridge in 2007 for raising charity for children’s food and education have helped her in realizing her vision of art for social cause. She also won the Valparaiso Foundation Fellowship, Mojacar, Spain for 2010 and Centrum Residency 2009. She has been recently honored with the “Kala Smridhi Award”2010. The Times of India has brought out a book” Beyond Strokes” and “Art Renderings” based on her selected artworks. She is now the distinguished recipient of the “Achiever of the Year 2009” and also the “Artist of the Year 2009”

Kiran recent achievement has been to conceptualize, curate and organize Jaipur's First Art Festival in March 2013 with 130 artists drawn from all over the world. The Festival met with a huge success.

She believes that man’s soul is the architect of history and that art is the manifestation of man’s soul & reflection of human identity. Art is unbounded and recognizes no constraints. Her artworks auctions in Cambridge for raising charity for children’s food and education have helped her in realizing her vision of art for social causes. In modern times, art is playing a dominant role in bringing about social change transcending borders and minds. Art is the domain of the dialogue between civilizations and cultures; it can speak in a loud and penetrating voice. Art is most often seen as pleasing the eye - creating beauty. Yet the idea of beauty, like that of truth, is most challenging in the present day. If something moves you to an understanding, somehow unreachable for you, by the common paths of words and reason, it's Art for you. Art is not for the sake of anything…. each art work in its own right depicts the image of the soul of the artist and the society at large. Art is a human activity which has as its purpose the transmission to others of the highest and best feelings to which men have risen.

For her the truth rings in words “To wake the soul by tender strokes of art" - Alexander Pope