Artist Statement

I started out looking for visual equivalents of certain intriguingly abstract ideas of Indian philosophy - the very abstract concept of Brahman.  And it was when I turned my attention to the sound of chants that I began to be interested in the appearance of words.  This led to the incorporation of the Devnagari (Sanskrit) script into my work.     

Today, my primary interest lies in the formal language of visual expression as it is carried forward by  the thrust or incisiveness of line, the thickness of texture, the resonance of color, the acrobatic precision of balance, the still, ambiguities of negative space, the contrasts between transparency and opacity, and the juiciness or spareness of ink.
 
It is in the layered and nuanced relationships between elements such as these, that I look each time, for the elusive presence of beauty.

Bio

Sangeeta Reddy was born: 1955 in Hyderabad India, emigrated to the United States in 1978. Lives and works in Denver, Colorado. 1985 on, she has shown in Aspen, Denver, New York, New Delhi and Chennai. Represented by William Havu Gallery in Denver, Apparao Galleries in Chennai and Shrishti gallery in Hyderabad. Upcoming show in Feb at William Havu.

Largely, her work is mixed media/collage on paper and canvas. Her abstract work was conceived from a challenge to visually parallel the idea of Brahman in Advait philosophy and has now evolved into a formal language of deconstructed Devanagari calligraphy. Her artistic influences range widely from an early exposure to Indian weaving to Picasso, to Rothko and DeKooning and to Tapies and Diebenkorn. From Modernism to Abstract expressionism.

She has a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) from Bombay University and studied art at JNTU in Hyderabad, NEOSU in Oklahoma and at RMCAD in Colorado. 2006 Associate, Rocky Mountain Women’s Institute. Awarded UCROSS residency (1990). Adjunct faculty at Arapahoe Community College for drawing and figure drawing.

Sangeeta is also a published author. A chapter from her first novel was anthologized in a prize winning collection. She has just completed a screenplay and is working on her second novel.