We were lucky to catch up with Kareena Solanki recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kareena , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

The creative pursuit of being an artist has been inherent for a very long time, however, it was only during the 2020 pandemic that I stepped up to acknowledge it. As a child, I would always paint, embroider, make paper crafts and dance. However, there never seemed to be a sustainable career path in the arts. I graduated in 2020 as a product designer, but felt confined by its requirements. That’s when I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue an MFA in Studio Art. During the pandemic, I began self-studying and became a self-taught artist, experimenting in my house studio. I started grad school in ’22, and the last three years have been the most rewarding. The time to focus and hone my skills, grow in research and have brilliant mentors has given me the courage and equipped me with the tools to nurture a sustainable practice. I draw from my product design and dance knowledge to explore performance and various media in my artistic practice. However, what really fuels me is the ability to ask questions in my work and think critically about the world. There is much more to learn and accomplish in my career, but dreaming is free. My mentor Josei Toda says, “Young people should cherish dreams that seem almost too big to accomplish. Inevitably, in life, we’re only able to achieve a fraction of what we’d like to. So if your dreams are too small to begin with, you’ll end up not being able to accomplish anything.”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My work investigates the profound interconnections between the psychic and political, the existential and economic, the spiritual and social, and the sacred and profane. I’m drawn to the complexities and contradictions that shape individual and collective identity, particularly the myths of its permanence, and the realities of transculturation, hybridity, and the evolution of belief systems over time. Through a post-medium, interdisciplinary approach, I examine how meaning is constructed and how reality is shaped, often through paradox and tension.

At the heart of my practice is a deep immersion in performance rituals and the creation of relics—acts that engage the emotional, spiritual, and physical dimensions of endurance. These rituals allow me to explore transcendence, transformation, vulnerability, and disorientation as portals to expanded awareness and presence. I consider encounter, exchange, and environment essential components of embodied practice, and I use these as sites for cultivating more expansive understandings of what it means to be human.

My process often engages with the tensions between tradition and innovation—between craft and neo-craft, authenticity and algorithm. By working across materials and technologies, I interrogate the reproduction of belief systems and the ways thought and perception are shaped in an age of mechanical and digital reproduction. This dynamic interplay allows me to question and reimagine the frameworks through which we understand ourselves and our world.

What sets my work apart is its commitment to unearthing and inhabiting the in-between spaces—those glitch-like disruptions in identity, memory, culture, and technology—that offer new possibilities for meaning, presence, and transformation. I’m most proud of creating work that invites others into this space of encounter and inquiry, offering moments of reflection, discomfort, connection, and awe.

For those engaging with my work for the first time, I hope they understand that this practice is not just about producing objects or performances, but about fostering a deeper engagement with the structures that shape our internal and external worlds. It’s a space of inquiry, reflection, and potential, where contradictions are not avoided but embraced as a source of creative power.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the ability to imagine your freedom on own your terms. To think, reflect and reconfigure ideas in a world that wants you to be the norm. It’s the ability to be open to different perspectives and cultures, cultivate an expansive mind and heart while staying true to oneself. Being an artist is more than a profession, it is a way of life. Life is art, and art is life; artists at their core grapple with reality. To be able to do this is a gift, to make sense of one’s life and the world we live in.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I don’t believe that there is anyone who is non-creative; we channel our creative energies into our daily lives all the time without knowing. But I think people who struggle to embrace their creativity often dismiss those who live freely, who push the boundary of meaning. Narrow-mindedness, lack of expression, and rigidity can often take away creative expression and an openness to imagine radical ways of living with hope, love and resilience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kareenasolanki.com/
• Instagram: kareena.solanki