In Pranav Sood’s paintings, charismatic figures mingle in front of geometric, patterned backgrounds. Bold and vibrant colors abound, interacting in dynamic ways. The plethora of colors and patterns imbue these paintings with activity and movement, such that at first glance, they appear chaotic. There is so much activity across the canvas that your eyes struggle to decide where to look, making it difficult to decipher which elements are important. On closer inspection, narratives emerge and the figures in the paintings become symbolic. In this way, the paintings are like dreamscapes; a frenzied blur develops meaning with attention.

Sood is an immigrant from Punjab, India and a graduate of the MFA program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In August 2020, he moved to Bushwick. Yet his paintings seem a natural fit in his new home, at times recalling the sensibilities of this city’s rich pop and graffiti art traditions. It’s no surprise that he chose Bushwick as his adopted home. He said that the nearby Bushwick Collective, a neighborhood street art project founded in 2011 by Bushwick native Joe Ficalora, drew him to the area. 

The vibrance in his paintings fits the style that the Collective has become known for, though they are clearly also influenced by many traditions from his native country. Before moving to the United States for graduate school, Sood attended the Government College of Art in Chandigarh, India and participated in a 15-day intensive under Vijay Sharma, a master of traditional Indian miniature painting. The influence of this style is apparent in his undergraduate work. The characters in his undergraduate paintings are depicted with more realism than in his current work, and Sood appropriates a flattened perspective that is common in Indian miniatures.