An Interview with Subhashini Chandramani
The kind of passion that Subhashini Chandramani demonstrates for botanical art is incredible. Catch our interview with this botanical artist who weaves magic with her Garden Art!
Subhashini Chandramani is a botanical artist, Gaia lover and nemophilist whose love for plants span a lifetime. When she is not creating art with her botanical elements, she spends time in the garden observing the growth of its ever evolving system. She calls it a kindergarten and the plants as her green kids. Her garden has over a hundred plants; flowering and ornamental including a few exotic species. She believes gardening is the best form of meditation. Find her Garden Art at https://www.instagram.com/neelavanam/
What got you started creating art with your finds from nature?
Even as I tell that everyone that I’ve been doing Garden Art for the last four or five years, a few months back, I found a few art pieces of mine created using almond and pista shells. I also found a boat-and-river scene using coconut sheath and pista shells. It was then that I realised that I have had this in my blood but never considered it as a serious form of art … maybe because I was involved in other things at that time and I was not aware of the potential this art form could bring about.
Fast forward to 2013, when I was sketching the profile of a woman and I wanted to add a nose ring to beautify her sharp nose. None of the things I tried made me happy. I took a break and went for a walk in the garden. We had planted a pink Bougainvillaea that had just started blooming and the white flower on the inside looked like the nose ring my mother would wear. I took it and placed it on the nose and it looked beautiful. It was a serendipitous moment, for it opened doors to many possibilities. And thus began Garden Art.
What’s your process in creating garden art – do you have an idea for which you look for ‘materials’ or are you inspired to create something based on what you find?
Garden Art is mostly inspired by things I find around me. A quirky leaf that looks like a fish, a flower that resembles a bird, an out-of-shape vegetable like a chilli, anything and everything that looks like something else inspires me. It makes me build around the idea: draw or arrange a few more botanical elements to complete the imagery. I go in search of elements when I’m working on concepts. It is like a puzzle that has to be completed and in this case, I’ve to design the pieces to finish it.
Brahmakamala Stork 
Everyday Night 
Birds 
White Peacock 
Tabla 
Cello
We understand that you’ve exhibited your art and also created your Garden Art Journal. What was it like taking up your passion ‘professionally’?
The journey has been fun. Experience is a good tutor, it makes you wise. It teaches you that come what may, be it elation or disappointment, one has to get back to work. It also tells you that it not just enough to have the passion, one has to persevere, polish, perfect the art with constant practice. You have to breathe and dream about it. Allow yourself to evolve around it.
Do you ever use art to send a message or support a cause too? Why or why not?
Yes, I do. I don’t get into politics, though. Any other cause which I think should reach a wider audience, I do. When I cannot create Garden Art, I revert to poetry and photography, which were my first languages of expression.
What keeps you going with garden art, and what plans do you have for the next year (and decade)?
What keeps me exploring Garden Art are the surprises and joy that come with the creating. There is a mystery about what my next art will be. The world has to conspire for it 🙂 It appears from nowhere. When I haven’t created for a week or so, there is a fear, an anticipation of how interesting the next art will turn out to be. This keeps me on my heels. I tell myself that I’ve to keep practising the art even if I don’t create anything interesting. It is a process wherein I keep learning and sharpening my skills.
Ten years back I did not dream that I would create art with botanical elements. When I started creating, I still I did not dream of exhibiting my work or creating a journal. When the opportunity knocked, I took it. I knew that I had to consolidate the work, share the joy of creating with others, and the journal happened last year. I never planned any of these; I took a chance and it worked well.
I haven’t thought deep into the future. I hope there is something interesting there as well. And I hope it keeps my creative spirit alive 🙂
( All pictures © Subhashini Chandramani)
(Interview by Spark Editors)
