JOIN USTechnology as canvas
Covid and the subsequent lockdowns put a damper on the creativity of many artists. Yet artists being artists, many of them found ingenious ways to express themselves with some of them even using the canvas of technology to reach out to the masses. One such young artist who is carving a niche for herself in the virtual world is Grishma Khodaria. “I love colours and I want my viewers to relax through my art. We lead such busy lives and a painting can do wonders if it can help people pause, take a deep breath and relax,” says the Delhi-based artist who is inspired by the Austrian maestro Gustav Klimt.
Her semi-realistic and abstract works are inclined towards spirituality and female figures (with closed eyes) as she is also a life coach and meditator. Walking down memory lane, Grishma recollects that as a kid, she would keep dabbling with myriad hues. “My parents understood my love for art and even when I opted for commerce in high school, painting was one of my subjects,” she reminisces. She went on to pursue Bachelors and Masters of Fine Arts from the College of Art, New Delhi. During the final year of post-graduation, she composed five wall-sized canvasses titled ‘Omnipresence’, ‘Bliss’, ‘Gratitude’, ‘Joy’ and ‘Passion’. “All of them represented my love for colours, dresses, meditation, dance, music and spiritual living.”
‘Bliss’ caught the eye of the famous fashion designer duo Shivan and Narresh and as they say, the rest is history. The painting went on to occupy a pride of place at Narresh’s plush residence in Delhi and was splashed across the pages of many reputed publications.
True to its name, ‘Bliss’ is a treat to the eyes with its pastel shades of pink and white. The female figure draped in a flowy white garment is meditative, spiritual and mystical. It was even displayed at a show in New York and gradually, Grishma also became an art critic for a New York-based website, for which she reviewed art-related events of the Big Apple.
Art Whale series
But, of course, an artist always longs for more and that opportunity to reach out to more people came to Grishma in the form of the pandemic during which she came up with ‘The Art Whale Series’. A talk show on Instagram Live for which she has collaborated with renowned artists from all over the world, the series began in January 2021. “While working for the New York website and interviewing international artists, I realised the endless ideas and opportunities that exist in the world. I also felt I should reach out to more people as I understood what artists were going through during the pandemic.” She adds further, “Although the lockdown gave them an opportunity to dig deeper and explore themselves, they could not hold shows or connect to the public. I wanted to give them a huge platform to share their experiences and coined the term ‘Art Whale’ for the project to signify the magnitude of it.”
Also the host of the series, Grishma has collaborated with many well-known YouTubers and Instagrammers from the city of New York. Zach Lieberman, Alonsa Guevara and Aaron De La Cruz are some of the artists who have come on her show.
The Art Whale Series is open to gallerists, curators, stylists, fashion designers, architects, musicians, singers, actors, and dancers, basically anyone with a keen eye for the aesthetics. With two shows a week, her plan is to shoot at least 100 episodes.
“The Art Whale Series is like meditation for me. Be it creating the background for my videos or shooting for the talk after a long hard day, it helps me relax and is my way of giving back something to the world of art. Maybe someday, I will start a business but at the moment, ‘Art Whale’ is my only focus as I believe in setting a goal, achieving it and then moving on the next one.”