Born in 1937, Jodhaiya Bai Baiga was a distinguished folk artist from Lorha village of Madhya Pradesh. Her practice gave powerful expression to the traditions of the Baigacommunity. For much of her life, she earned a living by selling wood and cow dung, until the late artist Ashish Swami encouraged her, in her later years, to take up painting. This turning point proved transformative, offering her a new language to reimagine the world through her own hands.

Her works are marked by vivid palettes and dynamic perspectives that honour the ancestral grammar of Baiga art, celebrating the community’s deep kinship with nature. At the same time, she brought an unflinching gaze to contemporary themes, painting scenes of ecological devastation and human-made destruction through traditional forms with rare authenticity and immediacy.
In recognition of her contribution to the arts, Baiga received the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2022 and the Padma Shri in 2023. Her paintings have been exhibited internationally, including at the Galleria Francesco Zanuso, Milan, and the Claire CorciaGallery, Paris, as well as at the Alliance Française, Bhopal. Many belong to The Crites Collection of folk and tribal art, and were featured in Bhumijan: Artists of the Earth (2022), alongside works by Jangarh Singh Shyam, Jivya Soma Mashe, and Lado Bai.