Meet Tanya Gawdi of Artwork by Tanya Gawdi in Toluca Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanya Gawdi.

Tanya, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have always been interested in everything creative! From drawing, craft and painting to musical instruments and signing. I knew I didn’t want to do a desk job, I always wanted to create stuff for a living. I kind of just found the camera one day and realized its ability to capture all of my imagination within a frame. It allows me to incorporate all my skills to create artwork. I owe much of my creativity to my parents as they were the ones who always pushed me to explore my imagination. My photographic journey started in Mumbai, India where I did a 1 year diploma in photography and later decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography. I graduated last year and since then have been creating artwork and exploring different mediums of expression. My work includes photography, sculpture, and graphic design as well as stop motion animation. My latest work in progress includes a fun interactive children’s book series.

Has it been a smooth road?
My journey has been one involving a lot of trial and error. It took me a long time to realize what kind of person I am and what kind of work I enjoy making the most. When I started photography, I was 100% a nature and wildlife photographer. I was absolutely against image manipulation and preferred keeping a photograph untouched as I thought that would contaminate the moment. Today, most of my work involves image manipulation. I find that to be imaginative, not contaminating. Looking back I laugh at my own opinions, but one thing I knew from the beginning, I love telling stories. Nevertheless my work is still evolving and changing till this day.

Another struggle I found myself facing as a photographer is the value of this form of art, especially in my home county, India. Photography isn’t considered an art in most of the world. Living in a society that sees thousands of pictures in a single day, photography has lost its value and people do not appreciate it much anymore.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a freelance artist working in photography, sculpture, graphic design as well as stop motion animation. Even though I have a degree in photography, I call myself a visual artist as my work is a mix of a lot of things with photography as a base. Dogs are my favorite models and I specialize as a pet photographer. I am extremely intrigued by surrealism and most of my work is inspired by it. I find the need to take my viewer out of reality for a moment and connect with my work. I have had several gallery shows showcasing my sculptures. Tangibility is something that sets my work apart as I want my viewers to feel and touch my work (at gallery shows) to experience it fully. I also specialize in Poster Design and have designed several posters for short films and documentaries.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles can be a tough city for an artist but it can also be one of the best. Being a city filled with artists it always keeps me creative. I love the fact that you can meet so many different artists even when you just go out to grab a coffee in Downtown or the Arts District. Art galleries in Los Angeles are also very good as there are many that support emerging artists. They create opportunity for artists to showcase their work and get recognition. The key is to be in touch with them and remain active in the art scene. Also, as an artist the artwork also kind of speaks for itself.

There is still a lot that the city can do to improve and create even more opportunity for different kind of artists. If bigger galleries and institutions started supporting emerging art, there wouldn’t be as many struggling artists in the city.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tanyagawdi.com/
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @tanyagawdi

Image Credit:
Tanya Gawdi

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