My biggest learning experience is to never stop learning, or to take success for granted and above all to never get discouraged and exhibit work consistently. Luckily for me, rejections have often been followed by a next triumph. My journey has not been about just a particular piece of canvas, print, or mural.
Tell us more about your background and journey.
Born into a South-Indian family in Trivandrum, Kerala which had strong roots in fine arts, my background stems from a musically informed family. My artistic journey has early roots. I was enrolled in an art school for young children in Kolkata, India where different art forms including music, dance, drawing and painting, as well as some handicrafts of the cultural region were all being taught.
I must have developed a particular interest in art, and continued by entering painting competitions throughout my growing years and receiving some prominent awards along the way. One such was a trophy I was awarded at the Birla Academy of Arts and Culture in Kolkata at the age of eleven, having already been declared a winner in a nationally publicized colouring competition hosted by Hindustan Lever a year earlier.
Encouraged by these and other accolades including frequently received prizes in school at Carmel Convent, Kolkata, I completed a fine art degree later at Stella Maris College in Chennai.
When did you decide you wanted to be an artist?
After studying in India, I moved to the United States for family reasons and to pursue higher education. I was accepted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991, where I needed to take elective courses to fulfil credits for a second Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
I graduated with Painting as my major in 1993. Perhaps two consecutive years of being selected for awards by the Liquitex Paint company while earning my degree attracted a solo exhibition of my student work hosted by the ARC Gallery at Chicago in 1994! The following year, different galleries of Broadway, New York City featured my paintings in solo and group exhibits.
Some of these shows attracted the attention of art critics who noticed my work in publications such as Manhattan Arts International magazine in 1995. Being noticed as such encouraged my decision to become a (professional) artist.
In the meantime, I had gone to Paris, France for an extended study period through a study abroad program while at the University of Illinois. While there, I absorbed the works of both the Impressionist and Abstract Expressionist Movements. I was particularly inspired by Claude Monet's paintings capturing fleeting moments in time.
He has indeed remained my favourite artist. (In connection to that, a business client commissioned me in 2016 to create an abstract triptych painting based on my interpretation of the flowers reminiscent of Monet's garden in Giverny, France that I had visited in 2010 and earlier).
In Paris, I also got interested in gaining insight into the Abstract Expressionist Moment portraying mental emotions rather than visible subject matter. After my return to the States, I began to create my work as a fusion of Monet's Impressionism and Expressionism, choosing happiness as my theme, comparing the non-representational emotion to ephemeral garden blooms and continually changing seasons. Interconnectedly, many of my recent paintings have been inspired by seasons, music and dreams.
For me, it has been a continuing source of inspiration that has developed into an ongoing body of work. Alongside my originals, undertaking art for the public realm has been a joyful and satisfying experience as well. Public art is attractive because of its power to inspire communities including aspiring artists, as a cultural connection, even as educational tools depending on the project and the commissioning institution. The opportunities I have received have been a mural at an elementary school lobby in Indianapolis, Indiana that I completed alongside inviting input from the young students enrolled in 2008.
In 2006, several large paintings with my theme of happiness were installed in a showcase window of Chase Bank in downtown Indianapolis in 2006, and on-site and “plein air’ paintings were created to benefit public causes.
Each of these projects has been satisfying given that the feedback alone was the reward! Using backgrounds both as a contemporary artist and art educator, my images reference lines, scale, and balance with colour and texture.
What has been the biggest learning in your career as an artist?
My biggest learning experience is to never stop learning, or to take success for granted and above all to never get discouraged and exhibit work consistently. Luckily for me, rejections have often been followed by a next triumph. My journey has not been about just a particular piece of canvas, print, or mural.
As my goal is about creating multi-layered paintings that speak of many thoughts and visual processes. I have also learned a lot by teaching and offering workshops alongside public demos in various mediums such as acrylic and collage, and subjects such as abstract and mixed media painting since 2004. The educational pursuit also aids me to help students.
Is it a financially stable career?
I wish I could state an emphatic “yes”! But some photos of my paintings were serendipitously noticed on the internet back in 1999. Thereafter, unexpected opportunities began manifesting themselves mostly via online portals. In 2004, MGM Resorts International chanced upon a couple of my small-sized paintings on a website and invited me to create a pair of large-scale, signed acrylic and mixed-media paintings that were installed inside the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA later that year.
Based on the earlier abstract style, and mediums, the project and its location in a famed venue brought me recognition. My ongoing concept is to visually portray joy, expressed through bright colours and often combining intricately interwoven textural materials. Due to the theme, my originals and commissioned pieces have been noticed as deemed suitable for all audiences including public venues.
Aside from the professional arena, I have also been teaching courses and workshops in various painting on a part-time basis in different art institutions since 2004, that accounting for steady income!
What piece of advice would you like to give to future aspiring artists?
If you are truly dedicated to becoming an artist, hard work and dedication would be a driving force and encouragement works great for morale! Teaching could be an option for a steady income.
Never give up and believe in yourself! I hope that readers of this interview have a positive and happy experience through my art industry career and some of my featured paintings.
Which is your favourite book and why?
I read both magazines as well as books, and keep up with current trends particularly with regard to abstract art, not just for personal progress but also to help my students. My current favourite book is "Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock.
The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts". This book articulates how to build images, abstract and offers perspectives for looking at an abstract painting, "helping learners to develop their visual expression without obstructions to free thinking".
Brief Bio:
There has been no looking back for contemporary visual artist Chitra Ramanathan since 1995 when the artist’s career debuted with solo and group exhibitions of her paintings at different venues situated on Broadway, New York City, New York USA. Noticed by art critics for concept and originality, her name and art were featured in different publications including Manhattan Arts Magazine, New York.
An award-winning child artist growing up in India, Chitra Ramanathan earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting with honours in 1993 and M.B.A in 1997 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois USA.
Ramanathan's unique, intuitive style of painting is distinct with her treatment of fresh, bright colours executed with rapid brush strokes. Often combined with varied intricately interwoven textural materials interwoven into the paint rather than mere stand-alone collages, they visually create the aura of extending beyond their two-dimensional surfaces. Many of her paintings are created in expansive scale, or as multi-panelled works.
Recent, private art commissions in the United States include a pair of paintings identically measuring 7 feet high by 3.4 feet wide, upon request by a corporate client that was installed in August 2020 – To quote the client Matt Ulliman, President at Ulliman Schutte Construction, Ohio, USA, June 22, 2021, via LinkedIn: “We purchased an outstanding painting from Chitra and then later commissioned her to create 2 very large complementary pieces of art for our home. She is a wonderful person and a true pleasure to work with. Chitra made the process easy and enjoyable. Chitra is a very creative artist and we could not be happier with the art she created for our home. The paintings are bright, vibrant, and harmonious with our space. Most importantly, everyone that views her art smiles with joy. We receive many compliments from our friends and family on her works of art. I highly recommend Chitra as an artist and also someone you will love to work with on any commissioned painting project you may desire for your home or office” – End quote.
Many of her paintings are created in expansive scale, or as multi-panelled works. With the abstract concept of happiness and expression of joy as the theme of her ongoing body of work, her work has attracted displays in both private and public venues including courthouses, hotels and prominent solo and group exhibitions. Exhibiting her art since 1994, with a current exhibit at the Norcross Gallery and Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, her numerous originals have been acquired by private and business clients, auctions, as well as site-specific public art commissions namely, installation of a pair of custom-created paintings at the Bellagio Conservatory, at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas in 2004 upon an invitation by MGM Resorts International, a 13.8 ft-wide mural commissioned by Crooked Creek Elementary School, Indianapolis, Indiana USA, completed in 2008. Earlier, five large-scale paintings were created for display in Chase Bank Towers, a location in downtown Indianapolis city in 2006 as part of the public art initiative by the Arts Council of Indiana.
Recent interview links:
* College of Fine and Applied Arts Alumni interview, April 2019
* Interview by the Miami Art Scene Magazine, September 10, 2018
Interviewed by - Bhavana N
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