Artist Statement

Amrita Deshpande a New Media Visual Artist works in computer graphics, interactive multimedia, animation, painting in henna and watercolors. She has an MFA in Art and Technology, from the Art Institute of Chicago, USA and a MHsc in Communication from SNDT Women's University, Pune, India. She has exhibited her henna work, watercolor paintings and video installation art in Art Galleries of Canada and USA. Her research interest is mainly in women and identity and children and the new media.

"My work is generally a combination of multiple media. I like to explore the medium and combine it with a layer of meaningful themes. I like to push the media beyond its capacity and work with it to produce a new medium giving a social message that may be related to our everyday lives. My subjects vary from children to adults both men and women to animals to flowery designs to socially responsible messages. I also play around with conceptual art in my artwork. It often has a layer of journalistic approach, look and feel".

Amrita came to the land of opportunities, the Americas in 1999. She hailed from India, the land of the white tiger, the monsoon weddings, the spiritual yoga, the mouthwatering butter chicken with basmati rice and where the slumdog become millionaires. She was born in the city of Pune, famous for its culture, education and art. While in India, she studied the art of business, the power of communication and the mystic world of film making. In Chicago, Illinois, USA, she had the opportunity to study in the most prestigious art schools in USA the Art Institute of Chicago. There she experimented with technology to create artwork. Amrita has come long way in her artistic endeavor, from painting in watercolors to puppetry performances to creating television programs to virtual immersive interactive 3D art. She has exhibited her work in Art Galleries and Museums in Canada, India, and USA. She has also successfully conducted community art workshops, artist workshops and taught in summer camps for children and adults teaching henna art, drawing, painting, puppetry art and creative theatre. She immigrated to Lethbridge in 2004, where she resides with her husband and two children. While juggling between home and career she is and has been involved in organizing the Lethbridge International Film Festival, successfully worked as a Sessional Instructor in the New Media Department of University of Lethbridge and exhibited solo and group shows in galleries of Lethbridge for six years.

Workshop:

In the past I also taught workshops to children and artists. One of which was the Computer Art Class for Artists to create digital paintings in Photoshop and Illustrator.

COMPUTER ART CLASS with AMRITA DESHPANDE