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Artist Statement
Artist Statement
While I draw inspiration from this traditional visual language, my work is deeply personal and contemporary. I use it to interpret the world around me and to connect heritage with lived experience.
TRADITION, REIMAGINED
Much of my work begins with a story: sometimes drawn from Indian mythology and cultural traditions, sometimes from nature, and often from the quiet complexities of everyday life. Themes of womanhood, empowerment, equality, motherhood, relationships, spirituality, and our connection to one another recur throughout my practice. As a boy mom, motherhood also gives me a deeply personal lens through which I think about nurturing, identity, strength, growth, and the world we create for the next generation.
My compositions are drawn freehand, without tracing, allowing the natural imperfections and asymmetry of the hand to remain part of the work. Intricate patterns and bold color transform those lines into layered narratives. I also enjoy moving beyond the conventional canvas, creating on paper, fabric, wood, terracotta, bamboo, and other surfaces so that the material itself becomes part of the story.
A LIFE ACROSS CREATIVE AND STRUCTURED WORLDS
My education in Fashion Design and Visual Communication gave me an early foundation in composition, color, form, and visual storytelling, while my studies in Project Management strengthened a parallel way of thinking rooted in structure, discipline, planning, and execution. Today, I also work as a technology leader, a world shaped by problem-solving, transformation, and people.
I do not see these creative and professional identities as separate. Each informs the other. Through Hasya Arts, I explore the space between tradition and evolution, Indian heritage and contemporary experience, preserving the spirit of an inherited art form while allowing it to speak in a voice that is distinctly my own.
I want the viewer to pause, look closer, discover the smaller stories within the larger image, and perhaps find something of their own experience within mine.
“Every stroke carries a story. Every pattern holds a connection.”
My art is rooted in memory, culture, and the enduring power of storytelling. For more than two decades, I have explored art forms from the Indian subcontinent, finding my strongest artistic voice in Madhubani, whose intricate lines, vibrant colors, symbolism, and visual storytelling continue to fascinate me.
For me, creating art is ultimately an expression of joy.
RAMYA THATTAI | HASYA ARTS
Contemporary Madhubani-inspired artist
https://www.hasyaarts.com | @hasya_arts (Instagram)
Work In Progress - Day Safari
Medium - Tye-dye on muslin fabric and acrylic paint on canvas
Dimensions - 10feet / 4feet
Description of Artwork: Day and Night Safari transforms an adolescent elephant and a calf into two interconnected landscapes, one inspired by daylight and the other by night. Theme is inspired by my two boys!
Hand-dyed fabrics form atmospheric skies across which Madhubani-inspired animals and birds create an imagined safari rich with patterns and storytelling. Bringing together the spontaneity of tie-dye with intricate Madhubani-inspired linework, the installation explores nature, motherhood, protection, and continuity across generations. The matriarch and calf inhabit different skies yet remain part of the same world, reflecting the rhythms that connect living beings across time, place, and generations. DAY SAFARI celebrates the vibrancy, diversity, and interconnectedness of the natural world through a fusion of tie-dye and Madhubani-inspired imagery. At the heart of the artwork is a richly dyed textile flowing through brilliant bands of turquoise, cobalt blue, magenta, violet, orange, and red. Repeated resist-dyed circles and organic patterns ripple across the fabric, giving the surface a sense of movement and changing light. Along the borders, individually illustrated panels of contemporary Madhubani inspired motifs introduce a lively gathering of animals, birds, fish, and nature imagery from south-east Asia. The intricate line work, dense patterning, and saturated colors of these panels create a striking contrast with the fluid, spontaneous character of the tie-dyed fabric. Together, the two techniques bring structure and freedom, tradition, and experimentation, into a single elegant composition to drape. To complete the drape are up cycled Banarasi borders and tassels adding more Indian elements yo the drape.
Muslin fabric washed, dried and tied to create desired patterns
Dyed with organic and synthetic dyes to obtain the desired color effects and patterns
Fabric un-tied and left to dry after the dye was treated
Drape fabric dried and ironed and ready to be attached to hand painted canvas panels
Assembled hand-painted panels with contemporary Madhubani paintings referencing safari/jungle theme
Almost finished drape with a head panel made with tied and dyed fabric with turmeric and free hand Mandala painting
Majestically Draped - Day Safari
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