An artist and a woman: Sabita Lakshmanan

Sabita Lakshmanan is an expressionist artist, and hence boundaries are blurred between the art she creates and the life she lives, so much so she wonders where one stops and the other begins. About her journey, she says, “I have been into drawing and painting since I was a child. In school, to get a better grip on the subjects like history, physics, etc I used to draw them and it helped me academically and also had a part in honing my skills.

However, as I grew up I drifted towards mainstream career and earned a Bachelors degree in science and later pursued MBA in finance. But I would continue to draw and paint portraits, creative works, themed exhibition, etc. However, later I realised that I wanted to make art as my career.

I was already a prolific self-taught artist and I thought I needed to get a place where I can connect with other serious artists. In this regard, I wrote JNAFU’s BFA (painting) entrance exam and cracked it by securing the sixth rank and I graduated in 2013.”

Sabita stated that she has been inspired by the endless possibilities in an ordinary day, and is fascinated with everything one can see, hear, feel, touch, sense and live through this miraculous body. “Ever since I remember, I have always been inspired to do arts, everything about the life inspires me.”

Her work is a free-flowing celebration of nature within her and all around, of which she is acutely aware as a part as well as the whole. Her exhibition titled ‘Seamless Connections’ is a spontaneous celebration of the life she lives. She says, “I gave this theme as I see the deepest mysteries in life and nature are connected at a level which is just below our perception, my work tries to go beyond the layers to glimpse the amazing reality which connects it all as one.”

She informs that being a woman artist in the art field has been challenging. “I faced all the problems that most of the woman artists face including the lack of serious representation of women artists across the world. The journey was tough and as a woman artist I struggled to do professional work, and homework, balancing each act every day.”

Where are women in the art world? “It is getting better nowadays for women artist as there is more focus on women as a gender. However, still, it is an uphill task to make a mark as a woman in the art world,” she adds.

Sabita Lakshmanan is presenting her solo art exhibition, titled ‘Seamless Connections’ at Alliance Française Hyderabad