Photograph by Don Freeman
BIO/ARTIST STATEMENT
BIO
Raghubir Kintisch (b. 1955, New York, NY) is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the intersection of spiritual and creative practices. Their richly textured oil paintings on paper emerge from collage and pattern-based sketches, reflecting themes of alternative universes, nature, and the inner mind. Kintisch holds a BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Social Practice from Otis College of Art and Design.
Kintisch exhibited at MoMA (2017–2018 Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983), La Foret Museum (Tokyo), LAXART, Keystone Art Gallery, Robert Berman Gallery, Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Armory Center for the Arts, Winslow Garage, Kleinert-James Gallery (Woodstock, NY), Proxy Gallery, MutMuz Gallery, Angels Gate Cultural Center, LAUNCH Gallery, and Tryst Art Fair (Torrance), among others. A Byrdcliffe Artist-in-Residence from 2022–2024, and soon to be an AIR in 2025, Kintisch received Pollock-Krasner Foundation funding in 2023 and was awarded a Silver Sun Foundation Residency in 2021. Recent works include diptychs, triptychs, mixed-media collage, and India ink tonal paintings, featuring vibrant color, texture, and patterning. Kintisch lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work explores mystical abstraction through a fusion of collage and oil painting, giving form to esoteric ideas and personal mythology. Inspired by organic and paranormal phenomena, I create mental terrains shaped by deep transformation. Recently, nature has become both inspiration and metaphor, reflecting the mysterious instincts and challenges intrinsic to the human experience. At the core of my practice is the intersection of creativity and spirituality. By layering fragmented images and embracing accidental distortions, I generate compositions that balance representation and abstraction, drawing from my background in decorative arts and yogic science. By applying undiluted oil paint with palette knives directly onto textured watercolor paper, I create matte surfaces that enhance the depth and vibrancy of color. My works are often presented in diptychs, triptychs, or larger groupings, forming a personal iconography that gains layered meaning when viewed collectively.