She is of average height and looks much younger than her age. Her artistic works in the form of her canvases and sculptures are scattered in different nooks and crannies of the house. She thinks art begins at home. Eleena Banik is a young artist based in Kolkata. Having grown up in cosmopolitan Kolkata, the daily trials and tribulations of the working urban woman informed Eleena Banik’s works. Here she found women who thought and acted like men, but who were forced to realise their alternative identities every day of their lives. She faced it in her practical life.

Her mentor was Prof. Jogen Chowdhuri from her student days at Santiniketan. She was also fortunate to get the guidance of Prof. Emeritus Somnath  Hore, Ms. Reba Hore and Prof. K.G. Subramanian from time to time. She did her graduation (1995) and Post Graduation (1997) at Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, of the Visva Bharati University. Later on she studied at the Glasgow School of Art, U.K (1998-99) with a Charles Wallace India Trust scholarship as a visiting MFA student during 1998-99. She also received the National Scholarship (1994-97) and Junior Fellowship (1997-99) from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Culture, Government of India during her academic years.

Until now she has received some awards including the President of India’s Silver Plaque (1996) and the Governor’s Gold Medal (1996) from the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata. She did 23 solo exhibitions in different cities of India and abroad including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and London, Glasgow, Moscow etc.

A restless, effusive and prolific artist in search of some indefinable goal, Eleena Banik seems to wear her heart and her art on her sleeves. Always in a hurry, this spirited young woman is unconventional with a mind of her own and seems confident enough to try out every possible material, medium, technique or idea that comes her way. Still in her thirties, she has already covered much ground with a considerable body of work to her credit and comments to offer on most issues of current interest ranging from child abuse by teachers, violence to environment, while feminist concerns and sexuality continue to be the undercurrents for much of her distinct work.