A brush with nature with a deep human and personal touch is one way of describing the exhibition, “Whispers of a Shared Earth”, by Shashi Tripathi. Her extraordinary paintings and installations on view catch the eye for the intricate usage of earthy colours, the fine lines and an abstract view of the earth, shared by both man and nature. A well-known painter, with exhibitions around the country—including a solo exhibition at Mumbai’s Jehangir Art Gallery—and in the UK, to her credit, Shashi Tripathi’s oeuvre spans from fine arts to fashion, working as she has been in the design industry for over two decades.
Alongside, as president of the Navy Welfare and Wellness Association (NWWA), which works for the betterment of Indian Navy personnel and their families, Shashi Tripathi has made skilling and environmental consciousness the byword of the organisation she heads. Her painting exhibition at New Delhi’s Bikaner House was inaugurated on Friday evening to a packed house by renowned painter Anjolie Ela Menon; Sangita Saxena, who is the wife of Delhi Lieutenant Governor, V.K. Saxena; as well as Shashi Tripathi’s husband, Indian Navy Chief, Admiral Dinesh Tripathi.
Here are edited excerpts from the quick chat Shashi Tripathi had with The Sunday Guardian at the inauguration.
Q: I was fascinated by the intricate work in your paintings. How much time does it take to finish one small painting and of course the larger ones?
A: This is a continuous work. Sometimes I work continuously for five-six hours; sometimes I work for two hours, three hours. I like to do intricate work probably because a lot goes on in my mind and all that wants to come out. Lately it has become more intricate; earlier my work was not so detailed. I really don’t know where I’m heading of course, but it’s a journey. Sometimes the big paintings take even two months. Three months. It depends also upon the medium. If I am working with oil (it takes more time). Acrylic sometimes is faster, but you cannot say. Sometimes you’re not very happy with the work and then again you redo. So yes it takes time.
Q: Is oil your favourite medium?
A: Oil, I always felt, is the medium for artists, but of late I discovered that the kind of artist I am, and the kind of freedom I wanted to have in my work—I don’t do traditional work—for me, playing with the medium is very important. So I got more attracted to mixed media and also acrylic. I like to experiment with the medium as my work demands.
Q: If you can please tell us what made you take up art—painting in this case?
A: Art I always used to do. It was not that I had really planned to take up art as an art—fine arts. I like to be creative and right from the beginning I was more inclined to that—in my childhood, school, college, everywhere, but then I never took it very seriously. I was into the regular way of painting—how people make horses, portraits, all that. But, later I started. I was teaching designing and textiles. And I got attracted to this. I worked for 15-16 years and I was quite happy with that—illustrating this designing that, trends. It’s a creative medium. But a time came in the Navy when I had to quit my work. But I needed to do something creative because my mind continues to think. So I needed to put my thoughts into something positive and constructive.
Q: You talked about your father as your biggest inspiration and influence. Tell us a little more about that.
A: My father was into forests. You can see that it’s that connect with nature is what I have shown. What I discovered is that the connection at that time which was created with my father was there in my soul as well. So when I started digging deep for my original ideas and works, I found those memories that have gone and instilled inside me. I think that comes out. So you have to dig inside to find what you have done, what you have seen. And then that comes out on canvas. This is true with everything. Whatever I see, whatever I paint, of course maybe in a little more fictional way, but it’s the true story that I like to paint. It comes from real life.
Q: What about your role as the president of Navy Welfare and Wellness Association (NWWA)? What kind of work are you doing over there?
A: It takes up a lot of time and work. My message to Navy wives is that you may quit your jobs but you don’t have to quit your passion or identity. At some point of time when I quit (fashion), I continued to work. And I do Welfare. We have done a lot of work. One of the installations here is on an initiative which I have started with my Welfare women where the leftover fabrics and factory waste are repurposed, and I have created a place where I’m skilling them, empowering them. Thus they are also doing environmental work in a way because loads and loads of fabric we repurpose and they make amazing things. I think one of my girls (present at the inauguration) is wearing such a dress. And then all these women come together and work those creative things, it’s all so mentally stimulating for them. This is the true me, so I thought it’ll be true for them as well. And my designing background and textile background and all that came together and I created this small brand which they’re selling and even earning money. So my work does not stop at canvas, but it is also in life. It is with my Welfare, it’s all around. I work with special children too. I work with women. I think this creativity is my language and my way of life, and it translates into everything.
Whispers of a Shared Earth
Bikaner House, New Delhi
January 9-14, 2026
1100-1900 hours
