Fountain of Light
by Rajni Louise
Fountain of Light, 2024. Oil on canvas. 45 x 33 inches.
My work is inspired by the infinite replication of life, patterns found in nature, and their mimicry in digital technologies. My compositions are landscapes of an immaterial world stripped of binaries and singularities, where the connective tissues of life create a dynamic harmony between entities. The undulating darkness behind our eyes and the branching of trees are two points from which my work begins. Both are ever-changing patterns, in which the angles of a grid are curved and turned into a branching, rhizomatic web. This pattern is not always present in my work but serves as the conceptual underlayer. I aim to convey a sense of unification through my art, achieved through the exploration of implicit patterns of life that have been obscured by the systematization of consciousness, but are ever-present and easily reveal themselves through perception of the natural world and our own minds.
Sudden Fright (Dreamscape), 2022. Oil on canvas. 20 x 12 inches.
In a more concrete sense, my works emerge from an engagement with the materiality of paint itself. My paintings are often the composite of many paintings, as the final image emerges through the combination of thin layers of paint. I do not use preparatory sketches; rather the compositions emerge through an automatic process of externalization. Often I begin by meditating before a blank canvas, taking note of any imagery that arises from within my psyche, and attempting to project these light forms onto the canvas. I also draw inspiration from perceptual experiences such as afterimages and the state between sleeping and waking known as hypnagogia. My practice is an engagement with spiritual life, and I draw on the imagery and teachings of Tibetan Buddhism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
The Edge of an Abyss, 2025. Oil on canvas. 46 x 34 inches.
Rajni Louise (b. 2001, Wabasha, Minnesota) is an artist working primarily in oil painting, currently relocating to New York City from Madrid. Her work addresses the intersection of optics and spirituality and has been exhibited in group exhibitions in Minnesota and New York. She received her MA in Contemporary Art History in 2026 from the Reina Sofía Museum and the Autonomous University of Madrid, and completed her BA in studio art from Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 2023.
