Pushpamala. N Biography 
Pushpamala. N is a professional photographer and artist. She is also a video performance artist. She was formally trained as a sculptor and later she shifted to photography. Referred to as "the most entertaining artist-iconoclast of contemporary Indian art ", she is a recipient of numerous honours as well. It includes National Film Award (1984), Senior Fellowship at the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development (1995–97) and many more honours.
She hails from Bangalore, Karnataka. After completing graduation in Economics, she studied under renowned artist Balan Nambiar. She also studied sculpture from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. While at Baroda she was influenced a lot by artists like Raghav Kaneria, Bhupen Khakhar and K.G. Subramanyan when she was introduced to art earlier. She conducted her first solo exhibition in Bangalore in 1983, and since then in a career spanning to more than 35 years she has conducted exhibitions worldwide.
She was attracted to medium such as terracotta and papier mache during her early days. 'Seven Young Sculptors' curated by Vivan Sundaram, exhibited in New Delhi in 1985 was one of her early noted exhibitions. Since 1990s she has exhibited many art pieces related to some kind of theme, such as demolition of Babri Masjid and violence aftermath.
Later she shifted her art work from terracotta figurative sculptures to objects made of cheap materials and waste papers. However she left sculptures in the late 1990s and shifted to photography. She created several photography series receiving accolades. Bhupen Khakhar, painter and her friend inspired her to create such themes. 'Sunhere Sapne' and 'Dard-e-Dil' are among her noted works, and she has also done video films like 'Paris Autumn'.
Published: November 06, 2018
Updated: November 06, 2018
