Navanjali Kelsey is an artist and educator.

Navanjali has exhibited her work in numerous group and solo exhibitions in the region.  Recently, she has shown her work with the Baltimore Watercolor Society, the Chris White Gallery, and was selected to be a part of the Rehoboth Art League’s 10^th Regional Juried Exhibition.

As an educator, she has taught all levels of art at Tower Hill School in Wilmington, Delaware, and currently teaches at St. Andrews School in Middletown, Delaware.

She completed an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, has a MAT in Art Education from The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, and a BFA from the Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. During her time at PAFA, Navanjali was awarded the 2021 Deena Gu Watercolor Purchase Prize.

Early memories of home summon visions of draped saris, in every color imaginable. Rich with intricate patterns, metallic threads, and often bead work, they became sculptural forms as they twisted and adorned the human form. Patterns and shapes curve into folds and pleats of a sari—a garment Navanjali’s grandmother still wears today. These dynamic details and lustrous folds, along with their patterning, reveal a history that takes one back to my parents’ regions of India: Bihar and West Bengal. Dense turmeric yellow, viridian green, and vermillion entangle on batiks across the walls of my childhood home, that convey imagery of figures. Goddesses and dancers reside in these textiles, surrounded by the drips and the cracks of the residual wax. Her  mother’s gold bangles that sparkle and jingle together with every movement conjure lyrical sounds in one’s mind. The delicate detailing and design these bangles shimmer in her recollections. These reveries are examples of the vibrant imagery that trickles into Navanjali’s  identity and has contributed to her studio practice.

Navanjali’s work pulls from memory, and experiences of home. A figure swirls and emerges on to the surface. Oil paint, liquid watercolor and gouache entangle and synthesize across the surface. These forms are suggestive and reminiscent of the art that she witnessed in her childhood home, but take on a life of their own. Decorative patterning, which she has absorbed in the form of textiles, jewelry, and other adornment inevitably seep through the figure’s stance. Much of these influences have their roots in Indian miniature painting, which is rich with pattern and detail.

Navanjali lives in Middletown, DE with her husband, Will, and two sons, Arjun and Aavir.