Pranati Panda

Pranati Panda is an Indian contemporary artist renowned for her symbolic paintings that showcase inner emotions and mental disturbances. Her artworks are characterized by meticulous attention to detail, captured through free-flowing lines, creative textures, and captivating motifs.

Biography of Pranati Panda

Pranati Panda was born in 1974 in Bhubaneshwar. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Applied Arts from B.K. College of Arts and Crafts in Bhubaneswar in 1995, followed by her Master of Fine Arts in Applied Arts from Delhi College of Art in New Delhi. In 1996, she also completed a course in 2D Animation from NIMT in Bhubaneswar.

Pranati has showcased her artistic talent in various exhibitions and shows. Her first solo exhibition, "Speaking Threads," took place at Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi in 2019. She has actively participated in several showcases, including Latitude 28 in New Delhi (2021), Gallery Art Positive in New Delhi (2021, 2016), Ragini Art Gallery in New Delhi (2018), Religare Art in New Delhi (2012), Exhibit 320 in New Delhi (2010), Tangerine Art Space in Bangalore (2008), Shrine Gallery and Empire Art in Singapore (2008), Project 88 in Mumbai (2007), and Grosvenor Vadehra in London (2007), among others.

In recognition of her talent, she was awarded the Orissa State Akademi Award in 1993. Currently, Pranati Panda resides in New Delhi, where she continues to create and exhibit her artwork.

Pranati Panda's Art Style

Pranati Panda's artistic style encompasses mixed media and watercolor, where she deliberately distorts the scale of pictorial elements to evoke feelings of grief and menace. Her works feature different motifs that are interconnected, creating associations within themselves.

Pranati skillfully employs contrast between the imposed surface and the natural support, while emphasizing the middle space as the object of desire. For instance, she may depict a figure of a sleeping woman with a baby crawling towards her or a naturalistic grasshopper and a lotus. The spatial composition of her artworks consists of individual pictorial elements, with strategically placed stray elements outside the main structure, often in the corners of the picture frame.

Her artworks are not merely illustrative or aesthetically pleasing; instead, they hold symbolic significance, revealing her inner emotions and mental disturbances. Pranati's drawings are executed in bold black, brown, and even pink tones. The flowing lines give depth and texture to the motifs of her artwork, which are created using fabrics, seeds, and watercolor.