anupama,interview,Behind the canvas

Anupama C. Hara

Understanding The Artist

Born in Delhi with a Bengali family background, Anupama has been all over the country growing up as her father was in the armed forces. She attended NID, Ahmedabad, to study Animation and graphics, and she still feels very closely connected with the NID community.
Anupama had always wanted to be independent in terms of work, and she started exhibiting her works at group exhibitions. She feels there has been so much happening in her life, but it all happened sequentially, one after another. After graduating she worked as an animator in the Indian TV industry, following the birth of her son, attending therapies led to a spiritual awakening in her. Anupama then went on to teach art at a school, and then finally coming to exhibiting her works in exhibitions.

 
Taking care of her son was very consuming for her, so she would always balance her family’s needs and her urge to just create and art and put it out there. So, she started painting in the middle of the night, after everyone was asleep, she would dedicate this time to just herself and her art. She describes this art to be very inclined to her education in animation and graphics. The artworks would have an idea behind them; they were never very abstract or conjectural. Every artwork by Anupama is well thought of from all perspectives- how will it look and suit certain spaces.
 
There is always this preconceived notion about artists, which Anupama describes- “in rugged clothes, notwithstanding a substantial income, just strokes of brush hither thither…”. But soon after discovering therapy, becoming spiritually knowledgeable and also practicing art now, a lot of this perspective has changed for her about a “typical artist”.
 
Anupama interestingly talks about her first sale. This was her “Make or Break”, the deciding factor in her life to actually pursue art as a profession.
She remembers it being a group show exhibition where she displayed her 10 works, and successfully selling all those ten pieces by the end of the event. She didn’t speculate on this decision anymore and started investing more time in her art.
Being an elementary school teacher, she had planned out a certain schedule and disciplined it. So even after leaving that job, she still maintains that routine; working from 7 AM to 2.30 PM- dedicating her energy to art.
 
Anupama considers her family, especially her husband and her sister-in-law, as her biggest supporters. She is now able to find time for herself, visit studios and work at peace. Anupama feels like she has been trained to look for ideas and inspirations, and she deeply feels that there is no dearth of inspirations. Her art comes from people, shapes, and light- or as she describes, “I want my work to be figurative, and not figurative at the same time.” She gets enthused visually.
 
Anupama believes that she is seeking herself through inspiration from her journey in art. She is still practicing to be consistent and pushing herself to not be limited. Moreover, she loves meeting new people, artists, and making connections with them.
Hear more from Anupama, watch our YouTube interview here