Poppy Charnalia’s Art at Louvre Museum in Paris

Poppy Charnalia is a Lexington, MA based artist and published poet. She exhibited her multi-dimensional art at the recent (October 2024) Louvre Museum in Paris.
The exhibition was organized by MAMAG (Modern Art Museum and Gallery GmbH), and curated by K. Heinz Playner. Poppy’s art embellished the show alongside artists from countries like Germany, Britain, Norway, Australia, France and Japan.

At the event Poppy displayed her textured pieces inspired by her 14 year old son who is on the autism spectrum. His sensory indulgence in textures has ignited her multifaceted relief work on canvas. The art proceeds fund various Autism Programs.

One of her featured pieces was inspired by a friend’s exquisite face. The piece started out as a carbon pencil sketch and was then buried in an ocean of texture with oil and acrylic work around it. The result was a pencil sketch juxtaposed with an intense textural and sensory experience.

In Poppy’s words “Art is the expression of my journey of struggles and survival. Its survival outside the norm defying the rules of spacetime.”

She expresses her very challenging journey in a poem—

I Time Travel
In the past…
When days got long and dark,
Their very definition of light lost,
Mimicking the night.
I travelled to the future for light,
Years ahead , from a distant dawn,
I cupped the rays,
To ration and sprinkle through my dark days. 
I survived. 
Now….
Sometimes when light is sparse,
I travel to the past,
Years back…to days of absent light. 
My pupils adjust,
Seeing light in my current dawn,
I cup the rays and sprinkle them,
I create daylight. 
I survive,
‘Cause I travel through time….

Poppy grew up in India deeply delving into various forms of art like painting, music and poetry. Her mother, an established artist in India, taught her techniques in various mediums. She is an IndiArt Ambassador for Ekal Vidyalaya, an organization that promotes education and well being for underprivileged children in India. She has done
art shows locally and donated art for various causes like American Heart Association, Vision-Aid, Saheli and Pratham. She did a successful art auction fund raiser for Autism Speaks at DeCordova Contemporary Art Museum in Massachusetts in Sept 2018. At this event she launched her first Hindi/Urdu poetry book ‘Yeh Sach Anvarat’ or ‘This
Relentless Truth’. She raises money for Autism programs through art and the sale of her poetry book. She has past, existing and upcoming art exhibitions New York, Rome, Venice, London and at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival art Biennial.