About the Exhibit
Straddling the distance between Austin, TX and Pune, India, Bridging the Seas is a collaborative exhibition showcasing work by the artists Supriya Kharod, Rama Tiru, Mithu Deb, and Manasi Joshi. Bridging the Seas represents the collective embrace of cross-cultural heritage, intersectional identity, and the transitory experience of Indian artists living and working in Austin, TX.
Bridging the Seas explores the ways in which “citizen diplomacy” is reflected in personal and intimate experiences of everyday life, heritage, memory, and contemporary ephemera. Culture, community, and camaraderie are visually realized through heritage, identity, and the human experience.
This exhibit showcases how community organizations, such as Austin Sister Cities International, can serve as bridges to our cultures in the present day.
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Sister Cities International was founded shortly after World War II by President Eisenhower when he proposed the People-to-People program at a White House conference in 1956. This network unites citizen diplomats and volunteers in member communities with thousands of partnerships in more than 140 countries.
Austin Sister Cities International has established friendly relations with 14 sister cities across the world and continues to cultivate global relationships that engage the local communities in citizen diplomacy and offer educational, cultural, and economic benefits, while working towards the reduction of stereotypes and prejudices across borders.
Austin Pune Sister City International is one of Austin Sister Cities International’s newest sister city partnerships established in 2019. As part of its historic friendship agreement, Austin Pune Sister City International offers and facilitates a wide range of immersive workshops, programs, and networks through its Diversity Band, and its Austin-Pune Art, Business, and Technology Exchanges.
Supriya Kharod
Watercolor paintings by Supriya Kharod
Supriya Kharod uses watercolor to create stylized expressions of life and nature, fluctuating between the aesthetics of ‘contemporary-retro’ whimsy and semi-abstract impressionism. She strives to elevate the viewer’s spirit by selecting bright and colorful palettes, while shaping imagery reflecting her own memories and experiences of vacations in India and of her daily life in Austin, TX.
Artist Bio
Supriya Kharod is an Indian-American artist and author. She left a career in advertising, picked up a paintbrush, and never looked back. Her first book Reflections on Art, Life, and Italy features her watercolors and sketches of Italy, along with reflections on her art process and life. She is also a second-degree black belt and Taekwondo instructor, plays tabla and guitar, and is trying to perfect the art of making Neapolitan pizza at home. More of Supriya Kharod’s work can be seen on Instagram @supriyakharod, Facebook @Supriya Kharod Watercolor, and on her website, supriyakharod.com.
Image Source: Supriya Kharod
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Rama Tiru
Digital paintings with augmented reality by Rama Tiru
The image collection Beyond evolves past the artist’s wakeful moments. Rama Tiru’s imagery stems from a mixture of her present consciousness, fragments of her past, dreams, lingerings from the subconscious, personal experiences in museums, of absorbing sci-fi movies, music, lyrics, news snippets, etc. Her process involves the technological layering of augmented reality and digital painting which allows the viewer to witness the dynamism that Tiru takes in creating her images from organic shapes on a blank canvas.
Artist Bio
Rama Tiru is a photographer and painter who experiments with various modes of digital painting and augmented reality. She has exhibited her work as a commercial/industrial photographer and as an artist internationally in venues such as the Association of Indian Architects Southern Regional Conference (1996), Austin Studio Tours (2013-2020), Japan at Street Level: Photo Septiembre (Tenerife, Spain 2015), Faces and Places of Asia: Asian American Resource Center (Austin, TX 2015), Photo Septiembre: Saint Mary’s University (San Antonio, TX 2016); and many more. She has also published a photography book: “-Austin East of I-35” and an e-book “Charioteer of Life” (2020). More of Rama Tiru’s work can be seen on Instagram @Ramatiru, on Facebook @Rama Tiru Art, and on her fine art and commercial websites: ramatiruart.com and ramatiru.com.
Image Source: Rama Tiru
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Mithu Deb
Acrylic and paper-pulp paintings by Mithu Deb
Mithu Deb incorporates a multitude of imagery, texture, and symbolism derived from nature. Her practice regularly includes processes of experimentation with a variety of mediums, materials, and styles. The artworks showcased in "Bridging the Seas" explore the ways in which her love for texture and the tactile come into play in representing and transforming elements of the natural world - specifically with her use of acrylic palette knife painting and the process of handmade paper-pulp. Her artwork tends to grow organically with whatever she can find near her.
Artist Bio
Sanghamitra (b.1960, Kolkata, India) is commonly known by Mithu Deb. She earned her B.A. in English Language and Education from Loreto College, Kolkata University in 1981, her B.F.A specializing in art history, and studio disciplines like drawing, painting, sculpture, graphic arts and pottery from the Kala Bhavana art school of Visva-Bharati University (Santiniketan, India) in 1987; and her Associates Degree with Summa Cum Laude in Commercial/Graphic Arts at Oakland Community College in Michigan in 1990. She worked as a Visual Arts teacher in Round Rock ISD from 2010, retiring in 2020. She lives and works in Austin, TX,USA, and started her own visual arts studio and school, The Blooming Paintbrush Studio in 2007 and has held annual art exhibitions for the Blooming Paintbrush Studio from 2009-2019. Her work has been exhibited in the 3M Headquarters (Austin, TX) 2008-2009, with artist groups such as: the RRISD Visual Art Teacher's Group (Round Rock, TX 2011-2019), the Round Rock Plein Aire Group ( Austin, TX 2014), Lalit Kala Academy (Kolkata, India 2018), online exhibition of Kala Bhavana Alumni (2022), Price Center (San Marcos, TX 2021-2022), and the Asian American Resource Center (Austin, TX 2023). More of Mithu Deb’s work can be seen on her website at www.bloomingpaintbrush.com.
Image Source: Mithu Deb
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Manasi Joshi
Acrylic and digital paintings by Manasi Joshi
Art not only serves as a mechanism for self-reflection, but is also a tremendously therapeutic tool. Manasi Joshi creates work utilizing both digital and acrylic painting mediums while referencing modes of realism and abstract expressionism to enfold traditional Indian motifs, icons, and forms, such as henna-painting and rangoli (sand-art).
Artist Bio
Manasi Joshi is an artist from India, possessing Masters degrees in both Computer Science and Music. Her artistic practice stems from her parents who always encouraged creative expression throughout her childhood. By participating in state-level art contests, making abstract-designed greeting cards, craftwork for festival decorations with her father, and by enrolling in summer art workshops with her mother and aunt, she was able to further cultivate her eye to observe beauty in all forms. Formally, she has been trained in painting, drawing, clay modeling, and various paper-crafts. She is also an Indian classical vocalist, music educator, writer, poet, dog-mom, and senior IT management professional who believes in balancing the wheel of life - mirroring the ways in which her artistic and logical sides draw inspiration from one another. More of Manasi Joshi’s work can be found on Facebook @Manasi's Space.
Image source: Manasi Joshi