I was born in small town in India, at the border of a northwestern desert state of Rajasthan. At an early age, the vibrant colors and sweet melodies of nature and nomadic gypsies, called Banjaras, influencing my inner as well as outer world. My Banjara existence yearned for stability, at least in my inner being as I found it nonexistent in the outer world for obvious reasons of inherent uncertainty, being the very nature of our physical material world.
My art was born out of the need to create symmetry out of asymmetry, harmony out of disharmony and order out of chaos in the explosively violent world where life itself has become an industrial commodity to satisfy the lust of the consumer, capitalistic world overpowered by the greed, anger, and fear, created by the survival instinct of our reptilian brains. My art is an effort to perceive and recreate higher dimensions of a spiritual world that is lost in the mist of materialistic individuality. Maybe this effort would reach the depths of compassion and understanding of the human spirit that is searching for itself, so it can heal and grow.
I have a doctorate in chemistry from UH Manoa. I worked as a research scientist at MER Corp. Tucson, Arizona and ANU, Canberra, Australia between 1998-2001. I also taught chemistry and biochemistry at Windward Community College WCC between 2003-2006 and at Hawaii Pacific University, HPU between 2003-2013, while pursuing my creative endeavors in the nurturing environment of WCC between 2007-2013. I received an Academic Subject Certificate in Arts in Spring 2010 from WCC. There I learned master�s techniques in both mediums watercolor and oils. I also learned sculpting and wheel throwing at WCC. My art education began with 6 weeks long Summer Atelier Program with Prof. Snowden Hodges, Norman Graffam and Jonathan Busse and later enhanced by learning skills from Bryce Myers, Toni Martin, and Mark Hamasaki. All of them are great teachers as well as artists. Right now, I am pursuing a Master�s degree in Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa as I couldn�t survive by just selling her art, doing henna and selling chocolates.
One of my Silver gelatin prints (Baddi Amma: Grandmother), a travel photograph from series �Faces and Places in India� fits into the normal mundane existence of women in this physical world (It's a Woman's World) showing the impact of hardship women have to face. It became a part of the 35th juried exhibition at the 'Japanese Chamber of Commerce.' Many of my paintings and sculptures were exhibited at the Iolani gallery at WCC and Windward Artist's Guild (a non-profit organization in Hawaii) at different events. My Sculpture (Dreaming) is more in line with the fantasy world where a woman dares to dream of other worlds beyond this physical world. This is possible only if a woman is able to rebel and break barriers/inhibitions that are meant to keep her in. However, she has to pay a heavy price for taking the freedom to dream. My drawing (Transcending: Alien women) represents the result of breaking the barriers/inhibitions resulting in expansion of minds. Only very few (women) can reach this level of transcendence but this is the biggest prize that a woman can strive for if she is willing to take the risk and pay the price. Hope my art would be able to inspire women as well as others not only from India but also others to heal and strive to live up to their highest potential.
Website: http://munalunaart.pixels.com
Instagram ID: munalunaart
Mukta Gupta joined Pixels.com Licensing on November 11th, 2012.
