Author: Riya A

Good morning everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. I have had a rough couple of weeks but am trying to keep my head up high and finish off this semester strong. Today, I wanted to share with you all a really wonderful British television series that I happened upon a couple years back.

It is called Portrait Artist of the Year and each episode features a regional competition in which hobbyist and professional artist contestants are challenged to produce a portrait of one of three famous sitters, and the judges then select who moves onto the semi-final. The top-three finalists  will have their work displayed in one of the UK’s world-famous cultural institutions. The winner of the show will receive a £10,000 commission to produce an artwork that will become a permanent part of the British Library. Famous sitters for the show have previously include Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, and Asa Butterfield, to name a few.

It is a beautifully lighthearted show that highlights incredible artists and their unique means of capturing life in their art. I implore anyone who has some time to check it out. Here is a link to a playlist of the first three seasons! Enjoy!

I know it was a short one this week but I really wanted to share a different form of art with you all! Please let me know if there is anything you all would like to see from me. If any questions or thoughts arise, please comment or reach out to me at my socials!

Until next week,

Riya

Instagram: @riya_aggarwal.art

Portfolio: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/

Good afternoon all, I hope that you are all well! Today I wanted to share my most recent Studio 3D sculpture assignment. I struggled a lot with this one, as I have found that I have struggled quite a bit with this class thus far. The whisper of forced creativity and the underlining requirement of abstract has made it quite difficult for me to create pieces that I am proud of. I have learned a lot about myself as an artist and have honestly just realized that I have a hard time with being spontaneously creative, especially when forced into the confines of abstract art.

It is interesting to think of abstract art as confining. Many people would probably consider it quite the opposite as much of anything can qualify. However, as a conceptual artist in love with hyperrealism, it is very difficult for me to create without any inhibitions. I constantly crave creation (wow that’s an alliteration if I’ve ever seen one) that has a backbone, a thread that is traceable to something very conceptual or recognizable. When asked to create merely with the basic principles of art (lines, forms, planes etc.) without adhering to any rules, I have a lot of trouble. It is very frustrating and leaves me creating something that I “secretly” attribute to a concept in my mind but force to fit within the label of abstract.

I did the same thing with my most recent piece assigned in ARTDES 120: Studio 3D. We were instructed to create a piece using various planes to create a beautiful sculpture at least 20 inches in size. When playing around with planes, the first thing that I thought of was a flower, an objectively conceptual symbol. I was then forced to create a piece that was not so “scientific” but rather something more “classical” in thought. Being so used to creating with a firm idea in mind, my mind jumped to a skull. However, I forced myself to pursue a piece that was almost “shapeless”, something that has form and takes up space, but a work that does not need to resemble anything else.

I inhabited my inner child, making random shapes, and putting them together. I ended up with a piece that flowed upwards in a tower formation with intersecting planes. You better believe I still integrated a flower! Ultimately, I enjoy the piece; however, the only part of it that I will actually save is the flower. I hope that I am continued to be challenged in this way. The experience of being forced to lower my inhibitions and break out of my own created box, in my opinion, has made me a better artist.

Please let me know if there is anything more that you all would like to see from me. If any questions or thoughts arise, please comment or reach out to me via my socials!

Until next week,

Riya

Instagram: @riya_aggarwal.art

Portfolio: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/

Good Morning all! I hope that you are doing well. In an effort to bring more of a science energy to my column and explore various arenas of thought, I wanted to share an incredible artist who magnifies the smaller things in life!

David Goodshell is an associate professor at the Scripps Research Institute and research professor at Rutgers University, New Jersey. He is especially known for his gorgeous watercolor paintings of cell interiors and signature scientific illustration. As explained on his website, Goodshell has been working since the early 1990’s with a type of illustration that shows portions of living cells magnified so that you can see individual molecules. He explains, “I try to make these illustrations as accurate as possible, using information from atomic structure analysis, electron microscopy, and biochemical analysis to get the proper number of molecules, in the proper place, and with the proper size and shape.”

Many of Goodshell’s illustrations are free for download and use through a gallery at the RCSB Protein Data Bank. He has also published a book titled “The Machinery of Life,” which includes illustrations of portions of bacterial and human cells.

I love Goodshell’s work as it brings science and molecular life to the general public, educating people through beautiful images and artwork. Science is an art in itself and the aesthetic principles that artists worship are rooted in nature. Personally, I have always been very interested in medical illustration as well as the healing qualities of art via art therapy. I hope to speak more on these topics in the future and engage more intimately with my art in a scientific light.

Please let me know if there is anything more that you all would like to see from me. If any questions or thoughts arise, please comment or reach out to me via my socials!

Until next week,

Riya

Instagram: @riya_aggarwal.art

Portfolio: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/

Good evening everyone, I hope that you are all doing well. I know I am a week late to the spooky party but I wanted to share one of my favorite older pieces that I thought fit the season perfectly!

Bête Noire is an original piece of mine done in ink, with dimensions of 8″x 11″. It was my dive into a literal form of expressive art. Dictated by a prompt given to me in my high school art course, I wanted to take my fear of spiders to a different level, a place where the viewer cringes and feels something deep within themselves. My goal in this piece was to not only develop my technical skills but also to create work that can evoke emotion. This is a piece that I was very excited to take on and something that I had vividly seen in my head before executing. I wanted to create a piece that demonstrates a visceral reaction, combining technique with emotion.

Spiders are a symbol of Halloween so I thought that this was the perfect piece to showcase. My mother hates looking at this drawing and recoils, while my best friend winces but never diverts her gaze. As odd as it may sound, I have never rejoiced so much to have people look away when I showed them my art. The minimalized lines lend to creating a cohesive work that demonstrates a clear image of horror, one of the true powers of art.

Please let me know if there is anything you all would like to see from me. If any questions or thoughts arise, please comment or reach out to me at my socials!

Until next week,

Riya

Instagram: @riya_aggarwal.art

Portfolio: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/

Good evening everyone! Happy Diwali!

I hope that you all are well. I thought that I would bring back on of my old posts. Today is Diwali, The Festival of Lights, and beautiful and important Indian holiday. For new readers and old, I wanted to tell the fun story behind this incredible tradition.

Diwali is one of the most important festivals in Hindu culture and symbolizes the victory of light over darkness, power of good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. During times of Diwali, families adorn and clean their houses, decorating it with beautiful flowers and ornaments. On the days leading up to the holiday and the day of, the entire home is lit up with candles and diyas. Diyas are small oil lamps that are generally made from clay. The wicks are made out of cotton and fueled by some type of oil or ghee. These Diyas or oil lamps are lit for deities and to bring light to the house and ward off any darkness. Another part of custom adornment is something called rangoli, a personal favorite of mine. Rangoli is created from either chalk or pigmented powders and used to create beautiful designs on pavements as well as home entrances.

The lighting of candles and oil lamps is a welcome to the Goddess of Fortune and Prosperity, Lakshmi. It lights a path, welcoming her into blessing the home with good fortune, prosperity, and health. The holiday celebrates new beginnings and the start of the Indian fiscal year.

The story of Diwali is long and well-loved. Diwali is said to be the commemoration of the return of Lord Rama and his wife Sita (Reincarnation of Goddess Lakshmi) and brother from a 14-year exile into the forest. While on their exile, Sita is taken by the demon Ravana. Lord Rama and his brother travel with an army of monkeys far and wide, eventually conquering Ravana and bringing Sita back home. Lord Rama’s return to his home kingdom is celebrated by a festival from the townspeople that last for days with music, food, singing, and dancing. From then onwards, this festival came to be known as Diwali. The day Lord Rama returned home with Goddess Lakshmi (Sita).

This piece titled The Festival of Lights is a small depiction of Diwali and the beautiful tradition that it represents. The hands are covered in henna holding a diya lamp. The entire piece is done in colored pencil and was done early on when I started using my culture and upbringing as a topic of my art. For me, Diwali has always been a beautiful time of the year. Family and friends come together and we all sit around enjoying each other’s company and laughter. Eating delicious food and Indian cuisine, praying for one another’s health, prosperity, and happiness, we all forget the daily mundane troubles for a moment and lose ourselves in mutual companionship and love.

Once again, Happy Diwali to you all. I wish you all good fortune, positivity, and prosperity for the year to come! Please let me know if there is anything you all would like to see from me. If any questions or thoughts arise, please comment or reach out to me at my socials!

Until next week,

Riya

Instagram: @riya_aggarwal.art

Portfolio: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/