Manoj Gorakshanath Darekar (1992) received his Master's in Fine Arts from Bharti Vidyapeeth College of Fine Arts in Pune. His favoured medium is acrylic on canvas. Darekar's practice is a means to engage with the ongoing dialogues on psychology, where he renders a meaningful interpretation of the subject. He defines his engagement in the realm of pareidolia, where he tries to find faces on objects and places. In his words, he tries to find faces in whatever he sees. This language of faces helps Darekar to engage with human emotions that he is, further, able to portray to the world he cohabits. It is almost as if the artist wants to place emotional intelligence in everything in order to achieve an emotional response or reception.

Darekar believes that as human beings we are constantly in the act of interaction. Communication is an integral part of the living and the inability to communicate can be stifling. Therefore, his engagement with faces is an active emotional response to his surroundings. His faces are a way of traveling time when he is able to recollect his experiences magically. He finds his art as a means to conjure a world that's easily, at once, miraculous and safe.

Darekar has participated in the Students Kochi Biennale, 3rd edition in 2016. He has also been a recipient of the prestigious Prafulla Dahanukar National Award in 2017. He currently lives in Pune and has been showcased several times by Gallerie Splash in several shows.