Jaswant (Jay) was born in 1960, in a small village 'Tung' near Amritsar, Punjab, India. He earned a Degree in Painting at the College of Art, Chandigarh, India. During his five years’ stint there, Jay traveled around Punjab and the foothills of the Himalayas, where he painted landscapes in oil and watercolor, as well as a series of rural-life sketches. Upon graduation, Jay lectured for the Government Polytechnic in Ambala City. Soon he realized this was not what he wanted to pursue. He left the government job and started his journey as a professional artist.
Before leaving India he exhibited his paintings in several national and International exhibitions. He went to Nepal where, in the mid-eighties, he spent several months, making large murals and paintings for prominent five-star hotels in and around Kathmandu. In the late eighties, he went to East Africa (Kenya) where he painted African wildlife in watercolors, acrylic and oil.
In the late-nineties he came to USA., where he worked very hard for his living. He found himself lost in the busy big city of New York and started on a journey of self-discovery. Now his soul and art traveled in a new direction. His landscapes were transformed into soulscapes, which he christened “The Awakened series”. These images, obscure yet influential, offer windows into the mysteries of the soul.
Jay is a member of The Portrait Society of America, Florida; Flushing Council on Culture & The Arts at Town Hall, New York; New York Artists Equity Association, Inc.; Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, New York; Southampton Artist Association, New York; Peel Heritage Complex, Brampton, Ontario Canada and South Asian Visual Arts Collective, Toronto. At present he is working as full time artist in Toronto Canada. |
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