Artist's Biography 

Pratima Naithani Björkdahl, born June 18th, 1979 in Washington, D.C., came into this world an heir to two distinct and rich cultures. Her mother being from El Salvador and her father from India, Pratima grew up in the suburban town of Princeton, New Jersey. Sitting astride these three cultures, she is an El Salvadorian, Indian, and American artist. As a child, she became more and more familiar with her Indian heritage. Her mother’s country, El Salvador, was at war for most of her young life, preventing prolonged visits and causing her to develop a deeper relationship with her Indian roots. Many of her works draw upon her summers in India and the inspiration Indian music, film, and history encourage.

Upon her graduation from New York’s School of Visual Arts in 2003, Naithani Björkdahl’s photographs were featured alongside Karl Lagerfeld’s and Baz Luhrmann’s, among others, in Visionaire 41/World Issue. Her work was shown at the Matthieu Foss Gallery at artparis-Abudhabi, in November 2008. Recent group shows include The New Order Beauty, Pallette Art Gallery, New Delhi, India, in January 2010, Engendered at Lincoln Center, New York, NY, in April 2008, Erasing Borders 2008 presented by Indo American Arts Council, New York, NY, and Fatal Love at the Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY, presented by the Asia Society in 2005.  Recent solo shows include the Visual Arts Gallery in New Delhi, India, March 2006, and Galeria Espacio, in San Salvador, El Salvador, in December 2009. The Dances of India Series comprises her most recent grouping of mixed-media works on paper that blend past and present Indian cultural references.

Pratima continues to travel to investigate her heritage, to study cultures, to collect materials for her projects, and particularly works in the spirit of preserving traditions as well as interpreting them in contemporary context for broader audiences.

Education:

Bachelor of Fine Arts, School Of Visual Arts, New York City 2003 

Selected Solo Artwork Exhibitions: