Original Article ISSN (Online): 2582-7472 ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts July-December 2022 3(2), 259–271 How to cite this article (APA): Sharma, T., and Parvez, S. (2022). Childhood Experiences in Paintings: Expressions by Contemporary Indian Artists. ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, 3(2), 259–271. doi: 10.29121/shodhkosh.v3.i2.2022.184 259 CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES IN PAINTINGS: EXPRESSIONS BY CONTEMPORARY INDIAN ARTISTS Dr. Tarun Kumar Sharma 1 , Dr. Shahid Parvez 2 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Visual Arts, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India ABSTRACT The present paper is an attempt to understand the relationship between the childhood experiences and its expression in visual art mediums such as painting, sculptures, and installations. Visual art is an important medium by which the subconscious mind finds its way for expression. In this research, some Indian contemporary artists have been studied on two parameters: first on their artwork and second on their childhood experiences. An attempt is being made to find out how the childhood experiences made an impact on their work. Both positive and negative experiences in childhood lead to creative pathways in an artist. The childhood experiences of these artists range from early demise of mother resulting in missing visage in paintings, to expression of darkness and death due to witnessing riots. The work of some artists who were abandoned ‘pink’ color due to dark complexion resulting in series of artwork titled ‘I hate pink’ or having positive experiences such as time spent with family being expressed in the form of family gathering paintings, are also elaborated in this paper. Psychologists have been finding ways to reach to the core of people’s mind to gain insight about the mental health issues and its causes or origins for an individual. The understanding of an individual’s artwork can be a way of identifying and understanding the expressions and reflections of that individual in drawings, paintings, and other visual art mediums. Received 29 July 2022 Accepted 28 September 2022 Published 11 October 2022 Corresponding Author Dr. Tarun Kumar Sharma, tksmlsu@gmail.com DOI 10.29121/shodhkosh.v3.i2.2022.184 Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. With the license CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author. Keywords: Childhood Experiences, Psychology of Paintings, Sublimation, Artists 1. INTRODUCTION Clinical Psychologists, Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals often consider art expressed by an individual in forming an understanding about that individual. Art therapy is being used by mental health professionals to identify mental health issues. It becomes important for the psychologists to be able to interpret the reflections of persons in the form of drawings, paintings and other art mediums. It becomes even more challenging when a mental health professional is dealing with issues that a child experiences during childhood. Art therapy is used by