(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

For more than three decades, Dr Meenakshi Singhal lived in a world defined by grayscale; the sharp contrasts and subtle shadows of radiological images that guided her hand as a healer. A radiologist trained at the renowned Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) in Pune, and a proud Army veteran, she spent years serving in demanding forward-area postings, interpreting the human body with unwavering precision and empathy. Her work shaped lives, offered clarity in moments of fear, and stood as a testament to her devotion to service.

But in January 2025, she made a profound shift, stepping away from clinical practice and into the luminous, unbounded realm of contemporary art. It wasn't an abrupt leap, she says, but“a quiet calling that grew over the years”-a gentle, insistent urge to explore form, emotion, and humanity beyond the boundaries of medicine.

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A whole new world

Her background in radiology continues to inform how she sees and paints the world. Years spent reading shadows and gradients of density sharpened her eye for structure, depth, and the subtle architectures hidden beneath the surface.

“In many ways, I still read images,” she reflects.“Just with a different purpose now.”

In her canvases, this technical precision blends seamlessly with intuition. She searches for hidden energies, layers, and tensions, letting colour become her liberation after a lifetime in monochrome. Vibrant hues, fluid forms, and meditative strokes replace grayscale scans, creating an emotional vocabulary uniquely her own.

Her years in uniform, marked by resilience, discipline, and exposure to the raw extremes of life, continue to echo through her artistic voice. Forward-area postings revealed the fragile intersection of fear and courage, isolation and connection.

“These experiences sharpen your sensitivity,” she says.

They shaped her attraction to themes of protection, grounding, and quiet strength. Her colour choices hold both tension and calm; her compositions balance vulnerability with hope and an emotional palette distilled from years of service.

For Dr. Meenakshi, painting is a meditative act. Each stroke slows the breath, centres the mind, and creates a quiet space of reflection. Where medicine healed bodies, art now nurtures inner landscapes both for her and her viewers.

“If a painting helps someone pause, breathe, or reconnect with themselves, then it has done what I intended,” she says.

Going global

Dr. Meenakshi's artistic journey has unfolded with remarkable momentum. Her first year as a full-time artist has been defined by a dynamic series of group exhibitions that mapped her emergence across India and beyond.

She debuted on the national stage with Raabta in early July 2025, followed swiftly by Imprints and Art Spectra, each expanding her presence within India's contemporary art circuit. By September, she embraced a more culturally playful direction in Bollywood Ke Side Effects, where her vibrant visual language found an enthusiastic audience.

Her trajectory soon crossed borders. In October 2025, her artwork travelled to Hanoi for Intersection, introducing her work to Southeast Asian audiences who connected deeply with the emotional resonance of her compositions. A month later, she exhibited in Dubai at Khwab-e-Mussawiri (Scarlett Dreams Season 2), where her paintings drew admiration from a diverse international crowd and garnered appreciation from established regional artists.

Visitors responded warmly, and a personal highlight was meeting celebrated Emirati artist Ahmed Al Awadhi Rukni, who took genuine interest in her artistic evolution.

“Art speaks its own language,” she says, recalling how viewers from different cultures gravitated toward the same pieces for entirely different reasons.

This December, she will reach a deeply personal milestone: her first solo exhibition in Gurgaon. More than a showcase, it is a reflection of her year-long evolution; an inward and outward expansion of a voice that had waited patiently beneath decades of service and science.

“This show is the story of my transition,” she says.“From a life rooted in science and service to one rooted in intuition and creation. It is a celebration of coming home to myself.”

If she were to distill the essence of the show into a single line, it would be:

“A journey from the precision of science to the poetry of colour and form.”

Moments that stay

The compliments and criticisms along the way have humbled and anchored her.

At an international group show, an attendee once asked in disbelief,“Is this really your first year?”

When she confirmed it, they smiled and said,“Then your soul has been painting much longer.”

It is a sentiment she carries with her, a reminder that passion often precedes practice, waiting quietly for the right moment to emerge.

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