suBODH maHesHwarI, m.F.a

WWW.SUBODHFINEARTSTUDIO.COM (951) 735-3043 | (951) 897-4632

“Blue Mountain” Acrylic On Canvas, 12”x24”

An Spiritual Art Fusion Subodh Maheshwari

By Viviana Puello

“My paintings give me space to feel and express my visual delight in color, shape and form.” – Subodh Maheshwari

Award-winning artist Subodh Maheshwari celebrates life, love, and creative energy through masterful compositions that include symbolic elements. Her vibrant and evocative works are charged with color and emotion as she explores profound spiritual themes. Maheshwari has an uncanny ability to fuse eastern symbolism with the western composition in bright pools of undulating color. Rajasthani's art influences are apparent in her pieces, and she manages to put accents of Hindi and Sanskrit symbols in a highly individual way.

Subodh, born in Aligarh, North India, studied fine art at Agra University in India, California State University, and earned her master's at the University of California. It was at Irvine, where she won the Regional Fellowship Award and blossomed as an artist.

She has since participated in prestigious exhibitions, and her works have been featured in renowned publications.

“Alpine Glow” Acrylic On Canvas, 36”x36”

Enjoy this inspiring interview with Subodh Maheshwari and discover the heart of the artist.

Growing up in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, North India, you learned folk art and classical music, but you now primarily create paintings as an artist. Would you say that classical music manifests itself in your work? If so, how?

“I have always been interested in music since my childhood. My home always had devotion songs. My parents were very spiritual; they always had spiritual songs or rhymes playing. So from the beginning, I was exposed to classical music, folk music, and spiritual music. Art and music have always been in my blood, and when I say blood, I mean because my parents were always interested, and I got that passion from them. When I had done my Bachelor's in music and art, I learned the instrument sitar. Art and music have played such an essential role in my life and my artwork. Listening to Folk music is what inspires my pen and ink artwork. When I create Folk art, I am inspired by their line work. A simple line can be so meaningful to tell a story. I love to play music, especially classical music like Sitar, Symphony, or Mozart when painting. I always feel when I'm creating my stroke while painting, it goes with the music. So when I go into my studio, I put on the music first; then I start painting or drawing to enhance my creative energy”.

You studied art at Agra University, California State University of Fullerton, and the University of California Irvine. How was the experience for you as an immigrant, and how did the differences between the U.S. and your place of birth shape or influence your art?

“When I came to this country in 1971, my children were young; I was a housewife, I was teaching Hindi Indian language. When my children had grown up and gone to college, at this point, I wanted to pursue my career and started going to college. When I started going to college, I was scared of how others would perceive me. When I walked into the class, I saw a mixture of different college students, some even in my age group. This gave me comfort knowing we were all in this together to learn art. I can tell you my first experience

Cont. next page

“Longing Dance” Acrylic on Paper, 15”x11” “Lady Of The Lake” Acrylic On Paper, 15”x11”

“Symbiosis” Acrylic On Paper, 15”x11” “Unity” Acrylic On Paper, 15”x11”

when getting back into art. When I was mixing the color, I started to have tears of joy. What made me feel even more comfortable was the great faculty at Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine. One day one of my professors saw I was sketching the Rangoli, and he says “what are we drawing?” I explain what the Rangoli is, “We have a festival and do Ragoli on the Rangoliand this is very important in India.” I felt so honored that the faculty encouraged me to bring my Indian culture into my artwork. When doing the life drawing, my model would be from America, and my background would be from India.”

Your paintings have won awards in a variety of categories. Do you have a favorite? If you do, which is it and why?

“All of my artworks I feel as though they are my children. I am painting from my heart and my experiences; all the awards I have received in my life mean something to me. My favorite awards include the Fellowship Award from UC Irvine, Bharat Gaurav Award from India, four times 60 Masters, and my Lifetime Achievement Award from Art Tour International. While all of my artworks are important to me, artworks in which I am sharing my experience will always be my favorite. Artworks such as Kiran (Hope) or Nature Illumination are just some of my favorites. The greatest feeling as an artist is knowing how your work resonates with the viewer. Having your artwork touch someone’s heart will always be something that I am proud of as an artist.”

You describe your art as a fusion of Eastern symbolism and Western composition. Could you tell us more about that?

“I always bring the symbols of India and America into my work; then I create my own. I have always been influenced by 16th and 17th century Rajasthani and Mughal art miniature paintings. Creating a composition is different in India than how it is here in America. We make one whole composition in Western art, but in 16th-century art from India, the composition is created into three sections. I was often inspired by the detailed work and the motifs in these styles of artwork; these artworks can be so detailed they can only be seen by using a magnifying glass. Artworks of mine where I show this style can be found in my symbolic paintings such as “Statue of Liberty,” “Regent of Liberty,” “Symbol of Liberty,” and “Liberty at Night.” I show an American subject matter in my Liberty artworks, but I dress Liberty in Indian clothing and surround Liberty with Indian motifs and English words written in Hindi. The combining of Liberty and India is how I am representing the combining of two worlds, two cultures coming together as one.”

“New Arrivals” Acrylic On Paper, 11”x7.5”

You use your work to draw attention to issues such as women’s rights and global warming. How does your art contribute to the efforts to address, alleviate, or solve these?

“For any problem we want to solve, we must first find out what the problem is. I want to make society aware that we have political issues, women issues, racism, and global warming because it still exists out there in the world. Half of the people believe in it while the other half of people who do not. Every day the world is changing. The temperature one day is 80 degrees, and the next day the temperature is 90 degrees. Global warming is here, I can see it, and I can feel it. I believe it is important to believe in science. We have to use more solar windmills to produce more lithium, electric cars and put down more trees. I am currently working on a series now that deals with a lot of these global issues. I want to bring awareness through my work with hopes that one day we will find the solution”.

“Sweet Breeze” Acrylic On Paper, 7.5”x11”

“Kiss from Queen” Acrylic on Paper, 7.5”x11”