After meeting women who were often afraid of expressing themselves, fearful of being taken as rude and unpleasant, Anjali Mehta recalls making one of her first few illustrations called ‘Mean Girls’ at a very young age. For her, art has always been a means of expression and “even making a small noise in this vast universe is better than doing nothing”.
Through Anjali, we can perceive the confidence of this new age of artists- artists who are not afraid of confronting the truth. Speaking up for women’s discourse, the LGBTQ+ community, the environment amongst others, Anjali believes that everyone has the power to create and make others realise the truth. A quote by Paul Klee that has inspired her over the years, that supports her perspective is
Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see.
Anjali and her relationship with art
Born and raised in New Delhi, India, Anjali has been drawing since before she can even remember. For graduation, she shifted to Bangalore, only to now settle in Mumbai, her “favorite city from the lot”. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Illustration in the UK and recognizes that she was “lucky enough to turn my hobby into my profession.” What started as a distraction or an escape from her life is now, not only her passion but also her tomorrow.
Continuously learning and growing, Anjali does not only capture moments and feelings through art but also uses it to communicate. Communicating and connecting with her audience has always been of extreme importance. She mentions her series of particular artworks called ‘Modern Living’ stems from her desire of getting her “audience to make a story, take it home and sleep with it.” She continues that “Subtle comments and messages, make you think a little more about the compositions and relate them to your own life and experiences. I didn’t always make such pieces but gradually, going through many experiences and facing so many different emotions in the past, I’ve been molded into the woman I am today. Since, the philosophy of life really attracts me, I naturally started making art based on situations I’ve faced in my personal life. It was a medium that allowed those recurring thoughts and emotions to escape my body, helping me to create something with a meaning and add almost a piece of me to my work. Hence, I tend to make more narrative art and not just flowers and other pretty things (Although I’m still fond of making those!)
Anjali also talked about sharing her art and that “when I shared this work with others, I started realizing through their responses, that most of us go through so many things. For them, my art is instantly relatable. Putting my soul out there, allows others to connect to me and weave stories from it. Hence, I would say my practice started becoming very autobiographical with each piece and that is something I see myself experimenting with a lot in the future as well.”
Creating Digital Art
Moving forward, Anjali talked about the new age of digital art and admitted that “procreate has changed the game immensely” for the same. “It’s so brilliant, and so easy to use that almost everyone can create a piece or art on it! Digital art is something which I started doing because initially, I was fascinated with it. Let’s just say, it was so much easier to use than traditional media. After creating digital art, traditional mediums slowly start seeming impractical and too time consuming. So, for me, digital art was almost seductive. The ability to express myself much more easily and just faster added to its charm a lot.
Having said that, since I’ve started doing my Masters in Illustrations, I’ve engaged in more research and practice and so, have started to love traditional mediums a lot more. In my opinion, every artist should try to explore traditional mediums as much as possible before settling on creating art digitally. There is so much beauty in overlapping lines and uneven strokes, and just layers of paints creating new textures, I have started to embrace all this a lot more in my art now.”
Travels and Inspiration
Another aspect common in artists is their love for travelling. Anjali seconded this by stating that “Travel is probably one of the most important parts of my life. I draw inspiration from everyday life, stories and emotions and travelling can give you so much more than any book or movie ever can.
My favorite cities till date have been Paris, Amsterdam, London & Rome. In these cities, there is a profusion of art and almost everything is inspiring! I was able to see the works of great artists like Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Edouard Monet, Frida Kahlo, Rene Magritte etc. and derive inspiration. These artists have made multiple masterpieces that being able to study their work was almost emotional and unforgettable in a way. Apart from them, I also tend to find inspiration in just food, architecture, the people and just, even normal day-to-day visuals. Inspiration can be found in all of those little things.
Although, I don’t usually create while travelling, mostly because I love travelling with my friends and that rarely leaves me with time to sit and draw somewhere, I do take pictures of everything I want to draw and keep making a list of ideas. Then, when I’m back home I go through everything, make compositions in my head, and then finally execute them onto the paper. For e.g. this piece that I made from my memories of having wine and cheese in Paris with the locals.”
Social Media from an artist’s perspective
Talking about Instagram and making the decision to use social media, Anjali confessed that from very early on she was aware of “the power of social media and how it can really help you with art and your career in general. As an artist, it is important for my work to be out there and easily accessible to everyone who might want to see it. Right now, Instagram is probably the number one place to do that. Other than that, I am very active on my blog on Tumblr as well. While, I never really had certain audience which I specifically wanted to cater to, yet, the fact that a lot of my work is autobiographical and based on my experiences in life, women and young people are generally most responsive to it.”
However, while admitting to the benefits, she revealed that she finds plagiarism to be one of the biggest disadvantages to using social media to showcase your art. Faced by almost every artist nowadays, “it is a real struggle to protect your art and many a times, you’re left defenseless because most of the sources are unknown. For me, I know that all of this can still never stop me from putting my content out for everyone.”
Another issue that she comes across is the fact that “Social media, as we know, can really make you feel insignificant and many a times.” “I feel like I’m not doing enough or I’m left wondering why I am not able to be as successful as other people. That pressure is certainly difficult to deal with and constantly makes you feel like you are not doing enough and not creating enough. I can’t really give any advice because I still don’t know how to deal with that but, I guess that feeling will always be there.
Aside from the pressure of social media, I do also feel an immense pressure from within myself to make as much art as I can possibly make and that is mostly because I have a long list of pending ideas that I still need to work on. Till now, I have never reached even close to finishing the list and it just keeps increasing day-by-day. There are so many ideas in my head that the hunger to satisfy myself just by creating rises with each day and frankly, all of this can be maddening sometimes.
As an artist, there is a lot of pressure to find your style, discover your niche and to define yourself. Yet, that is not something which can be easily attained and everyone should be aware of the fact there are countless, young artists who struggle with exactly that. The focus for everyone should still be on creating art and practicing whatever they like. Eventually, your own likes and dislikes will lead them towards finding their voice and style. That, is something young artists should keep in mind and not stress about.
Taking all of this into account, Instagram still has its numerous benefits. One being acquainted with artists all over the world. Anjali stated that she has an extensive list of people who inspire her including- Anisa Makhoul, Missy Dunaway, Alison Zai, John Deckmann, Jenny Holzer, Koreen Odiney (We’re not really strangers) amongst many others. These are the few people she would recommend everyone to follow. They are immensely talented, create the most amazing artworks and are generally inspiring and positive on their accounts on a daily basis. Apart from Instagram artists, those like Frida Kahlo and Edward Hopper also have some tremendously engrossing and inspirational work, that motivate her to push her creative boundaries. “They depict their stories and emotions so strongly, confidently, smoothly and with so much vulnerability- so amazingly well that I only wish I am able to do so one day.”
Bringing back strokes by hand
Lastly, when asked about which medium other than digital art she fancies, Anjali responded that “I have tried almost all mediums by now but, oil painting is something I’ve only used twice and the possibility of creating from oil is endless! It is something that I want to add to my practice as soon as possible and I’m just waiting for a better space to do so, only so that the smell doesn’t suffocate me! Hah!
Check out more of her work on Instagram at @anjalimehta92