Born and brought up in Jaipur, Aditi is a feather artist by default, not design. Always a painter, she never thought of taking it up as a full-time career, but destiny had other plans for her.
Her father, an employee with the Bank of Baroda however spotted a spark in her and urged her to pursue a degree in Bachelor in Fine Arts (BFA), but she dug her heels in and decided to study Industrial Microbiology. Later, she went on to do her Master’s in Economics, followed by a diploma in interior designing, and took up work under two, renowned architects, but somewhere, something was amiss in her life, though she could not put a finger on it. During the interim, while working with Genpact, she continued working with charcoal, her first choice of a medium. Then, one fine day, she stumbled on a bird’s abandoned feather and thought,
“Why not?”
That’s how a feather artist was born. Egged on by her brother, an alumnus of IIT-Mumbai, now working as a Professor in Scotland, she gradually came to discover her true passion. A frequent visitor to art galleries and museums abroad in Denmark, Oslo and Paris, Aditi’s brother used to dispatch her pictures of unusual art forms, and even books by well-known artists that began to capture her imagination and got her to start experimenting with a variety of mediums.
Her curiosity as a buddying artist was awakened. “I now work and experiment with different mediums as it gives me the potential to stretch my imagination. I can then explore, and go beyond set boundaries. I don’t like to be restrained by a medium,” she explained to me at O2 Café in Jaipur (where few of her work is being showcased) in a causal interaction, over a cup of tea, on one fine morning of June 2018.
Aditi explained that as an artist, she is driven by the flighty spirit of a bird’s feather. It makes her feel light-weight as the feather. Working with the soft medium is undoubtedly challenging but it also makes her belief that she can stretch her wings and take a flight beyond the sky.
Working with feathers for several years now, it’s finally begun to bend to her will, and manifest her expressions. Along the way, she has picked several followers of her unique art form. The books that her brother once picked for her have helped her see many possibilities in each and every art form, however unconventional or untried it may be. In Aditi’s case it was her dad’s vision that prevailed. He spotted the artist in his little girl, long before anyone else, or she herself, did.
Never interested in making art for a living, she does however want to a name for herself in the art world, and possibly be honoured with a Padamshree.
She’s hitched her wagon to the stars! A self-taught artist, the recurring themes in her work are horses, shafts of shrivelled up trees, and sometimes, also Krishna with his famous consort, Radha. She’s also into painting tiger and Rohida, which is Rajasthan’s state flower. As to where she picks her feathers from (pun intended), she collects her from the zoo, often accompanied by her father, who helps her with the task.
Working with feathers isn’t by any stretch of imagination, a child’s play.
“You need to know the type of feather you are going to use,” she explains. “What colours it might or might not absorb; how it can be preserved; in what season you can expect to find what feather, among other things.” Recently, one of her works got selected for display at Jahangir Art Gallery in Mumbai, which is arguably not a mean achievement for any self-taught artist.
Aditi believes professional training is important for an artist to learn the techniques and textures either by working under a professional artist or through a formal course. But its rather late for her to go back to the basics. “I do follow a few artists on social media, with whom I share common interests with and this opens up my horizons,” she adds. As a commercial artist, she loves to accept all kinds of challenges and likes no restrictions.
What about marriage? Will that change her priorities? Or will art still remain her first love. “Post-marriage my priorities are bound to get reshuffled, but if my partner and my in-laws respect my work, I would give priority to my art as well.”
Does she believe in God? And pat comes the reply, “I am somewhere between a theist and an atheist. I do believe that God exists but I can’t sit all day long chanting mantras. If you believe in God you must do good deeds that’s all. Do your karma and the rest will follow.”
Between exhibitions, Aditi conducts workshops, where she shares all her little trade secrets on feather painting. Not driven by commerce, she displays selected 20-25 pieces only. Like most good artists, she has learnt not to measure her work’s value by the amount of money she makes.
“Money may follow, but it can’t be a precursor to art,” she quips. Each day, Aditi gives a big portion of her time – around five-six hours – to her art, from a match-box size studio that’s begun to bulge with vibrant features in various hues and shapes.
Her one burning desire? “To visit Louvre Museum in Paris, one day.”
Want to find out more about Aditi?
Check out the Facebook page and the Instagram account.
Cover Photo:
Two Opposite Traits
How beautifully two opposite characteristics balance each other can be seen in this painting, hard characteristics of bark and soft characteristics of feather is complementing each other. Balancing two opposite characters is a tough task which inspires me to make this painting. I have used a piece of a tree bark and pelican feather and acrylic colors.
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