Today we’d like to introduce you to Lopamudra Goyal.
Hi Lopamudra, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Lopamudra Goyal, I’m a multimedia visual artist from India, now based in LA. I moved to the US in September of 2021 to pursue my Bachelor’s of Fine Arts at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). I’ve wanted to be an artist since I started making art at age 3. I got an opportunity very young in life to explore different aspects of art, and my family helped me grow it even further by helping me choose a school that had many streams of art to learn from. In my freshman year of high school, I started making sculptures and really enjoyed using my hands to build tangible 3-dimensional forms. After classes, I would work long hours in the sculpture room. By my sophomore year of high school, I had decided to pursue art as a full-time career, and in my junior and senior years, I learned new skills, experimenting with 3-dimensional mediums and building my portfolio for college. In the summer of 2019, I got the opportunity to attend an Early College Program at the School of the Art Institute Chicago (SAIC) held in Mumbai, where, for the first time, I experienced freedom with art. I got to choose a project of my own with no restrictions in medium; I chose to make a building out of recycled trash from our group activities, food wrappers, and wire and created a large-scale sustainable sculpture. Seeing other peoples’ projects and choice of medium broadened my horizon, and I learned to look at art from a new perspective beyond sketchbooks and drawings.
As a senior during lockdown, I spent a lot of my time and energy building my portfolio and working on applications to Art colleges. I was elated when I got my acceptance letter from CalArts. I had a chance to choose between University of the Arts London (UAL) and CalArts. I chose CalArts because of their open-ended curriculum. CalArts has provided me with an uncensored place to learn and make art without restrictions to mediums ideas and without the pressure of labeling myself as an artist of a particular discipline. Being in California, close to the coast, with nice weather, and being part of a multicultural community is an addition.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Moving to the US at first was hard, being away from a stable life close to family to study and build a career. The culture shock was big, and took some time to understand how things work around here. My first year in college was socially rough and isolating, being stuck on a college campus for the most part without a car, but I gained the confidence to do everything alone and enjoy my own company. Sometimes, living alone gets tough, and homesickness hits hard. I wonder if it is worth it to live so far away from my home country and parents, but my goals and firm mindset keep me grounded, and I am certain that this is the right place for me. Being on a student visa introduces uncertainty, making it important for me to make a place for myself in the Art world.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I make sculptures, installations, and acrylic paintings with 3-dimensional material. I work with a wide variety of media, including acrylic painting, clay, wood, wire, textiles, photographs, alcohol ink, resin, and found objects. Since coming to CalArts, I have exhibited in multiple art shows and exhibitions, starting with a group open studio in 2021 and end-of-year group shows in 2022.
2023 was a breakthrough year for me–I had my first solo exhibition at CalArts, and 5 of my works were selected to be displayed in the headquarters of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s company Imagine Entertainment in Beverly Hills. The selection of those Artworks is my pride. In the summer, I joined Arts Bridging the Gap (ABG), a non-profit in LA, as a visiting artist. Since then I have assisted them in youth programs in Hollywood, painting multiple public Murals in LA and events like Paint and Sip in Glendale. I am also a member of the Santa Clarita Artists Association (SCAA) and was selected as one of the eleven artists to paint live at the Santa Clarita International Film Festival (SCIFF) in December 2023. I enjoy curating and installing exhibitions.
My Worldview I believe sets me apart from other artists, I am from India, and I have been in different places and I collected items and ideas from multiple cultures. I have lived in a boarding school and made friends all over the country with different backgrounds and values. That is how I learned about a lot of different cultures within India. I collected items from India and added them to a sculpture alongside items from the US, and the countries I have to pass through on my journey to reach the USA to show the relations and contrast both.
My art is based on my perspective of real life rather than realism itself. I draw abstract portraits in minimal form using a single line. I use colors and mediums to show emotions and patterns of life. I have made paintings about discomfort from conflict, body image, and ADHD, using bright red, blue, and yellow colors that are disturbing to the eye to allow the viewers to experience similar feelings by looking at the artworks. I make a lot of contemporary art about life in general and talk about patterns in everyday life like I made a painting and sculpture series called “Balance” using Morse code to write messages, showing life summed up in the form of dots, lines, and gaps.
We’d love to hear about what you think about risk-taking.
I grew up in India in a society where Fine Arts is not accepted as a career; it is considered more of a hobby or a side job. When I decided to pursue art as a full-time career, that seemed like a risk at first, but I am happy I took the risk and chose this unique career path. I moved across the world to another country alone in uncertain covid time to pursue a career of my choice. Each day I wake up happy to go to school and my studio knowing I am doing what I love and living life on my terms, carving my own path. Risks are super important to grow; you can’t always be in your safe haven and expect a smooth ride in life. You need to get out and do things, experiment, push yourself, be vulnerable, and make yourself seen. You have to stay strong and push through failure, get back up and keep going, and stay busy, always focusing on the work. The more I delay taking risks, the more I delay growth. Risks will always exist in all stages of life. I used to act more cautiously, but throughout my journey at CalArts I want to take as many risks as possible as it does not put as much on the line as it will later in the real world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lopamudragoyal.art/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lop.art30/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lopamudra-goyal-8487571b1/
Image Credits
Steven Feng
