Bodymind Balance

Finding Harmony Through Art

Interview by Jordan Staggs | Artwork by Pooja Pittie

Contemporary artist Pooja Pittie creates intricate swirls and swaths of radiant hues punctuated by polka dot patterns, drips, and textures that can’t help but draw the eye. A native of Mumbai, India, she says her upbringing has intensified her love of using bright colors and given her the confidence to use them freely in her artwork. Living with a progressive form of muscular dystrophy also influences her painting process, which she says “explores the constantly changing relationship between an often slow body and an active mind.”

We had the privilege of catching up with Pittie to discuss her art, her inspirations, and what’s coming up for her this year and beyond.

VIE: Tell us a little about yourself and your career.

Pooja Pittie: I grew up in Mumbai, India, in a close-knit joint family. I am the oldest of three kids. My younger sister now lives in Atlanta, and my brother and parents live in India.

I had an idyllic childhood in many ways, with summers spent visiting cousins all over the country. I attended an all-girls school in Mumbai that was very competitive, and I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an independent career woman, so I did my undergraduate in business. My dad is an entrepreneur, and I used to accompany him to the office and meetings. I loved the idea of starting something new and being your own boss!

I even got a chartered accountant qualification (similar to becoming a CPA here in the US), which was a very intense four-year process that I did along with college and an internship.

In 1999, I had an arranged marriage and moved to the US. I then took the CPA exams and got an accounting job before starting my own business when I was twenty-one years old. In the years that followed, I was busy being a wife, an entrepreneur, and then a mother. I got my MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2005 and worked in brand finance at Unilever for a couple of years. Soon after that, I got divorced and started a children’s media company that made books and DVDs to teach kids about Indian culture. I ran that business until 2016, when I decided to paint full-time.

My process is tied to my experience as a woman with a disability—I create paintings in alternating periods of energetic activity and rest.

VIE: How did you get started as an artist? Was it always something you wanted to do professionally?

Pittie: Drawing was a part of me since I was little. It came naturally, and I always had a sketchbook and drew all the time. I had various art projects at school and home. As I started understanding the concept of a career, though, I felt that being an artist would not give me the independence I wanted as a woman in India. It was only encouraged as a hobby—to be done in one’s spare time.

Even after moving to the US, the expectation was to make a living by getting a real job in finance or accounting, so I continued on that path. Throughout, I kept dabbling in art on and off, even taking a couple of evening classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Finally, in 2016, I committed myself to make art every day, even if it was for just a few minutes, and that started my journey as a full-time professional artist.

VIE: How would you describe your art? What does it make you feel when you create it?

Pittie: I am a painter, and I make abstract paintings that are generally very colorful. I use a combination of broad, gestural brushstrokes along with smaller, mindful marks to create a sense of movement. My process is tied to my experience as a woman with a disability—I create paintings in alternating periods of energetic activity and rest. I work across a range of sizes, from six-foot canvases to small five-by-seven-inch drawings on paper. Painting is very empowering for me. When I’m in my studio, I can experience through painting the sense of limitless movement that I’m losing as my disability progresses.

VIE: You create from a unique “bodymind” perspective. Can you tell us what that means to you?

Pittie: When I first started painting full-time four years ago and thinking about my process and my work, I believed that, through painting, I could explore the relationship between my body and mind. By using paint in different ways, depending on the changing needs of my body and how active I was feeling, I thought I was trying to achieve a sense of harmony in the finished paintings. That somehow, this would resolve the imbalance between a slow-moving body and an active mind.

However, earlier this year, I did a 3Arts Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago and started thinking about my disability differently. I was introduced to the term bodymind, which essentially communicates that body and mind are interconnected. Instead of treating them as separate entities that need to be balanced, I am learning to let go of that expectation, work with the imbalance, and find value in that interconnectedness.

VIE: What would you like to say to other people with muscular dystrophy who want to pursue art or other creative careers?

Pittie: Go for it! I would say that to anyone who wanted to pursue a creative career. My journey began with small steps and small commitments to keep making art, and it eventually turned into a full-time career.

VIE: What is your favorite thing about being an artist?

Pittie: Painting in my studio. I love having a space where I can be my “whole” self, bringing together all my disparate experiences.

I am learning to let go of that expectation, work with the imbalance, and find value in that interconnectedness.

VIE: What is the most challenging thing?

Pittie: Keeping my paintbrushes clean!

VIE: How does it feel when you see your work displayed in a gallery or a collector’s home?

Pittie: Empowering. Surreal. Grateful.

VIE: You also collaborate with Holly Hunt Design. How do you feel art and interior design are connected? What do you like about working with designers and seeing your art in homes and other spaces?

Pittie: Paintings on canvas are meant to be hung indoors, so it’s always exciting to see my art placed in a thoughtfully designed space where different elements relate and talk to each other. I am lucky to work with designers who have put my art in beautiful homes and workspaces to enhance people’s everyday experiences.

VIE: Who are your inspirations or other artists you admire?

Pittie: My favorite artist of all time would be Joan Mitchell. I love the emotional intensity of her paintings and her connection to Chicago! I also admire Van Gogh and Henri Matisse for their use of color. Being introduced to Hilma af Klint through the Guggenheim exhibition in 2019 completely changed the way I think about art and its connection to our inner spirituality.

VIE: Why do you think art is essential to the world?

Pittie: I believe that both creating and experiencing art can provide the means to express ourselves and to develop compassion and empathy.

VIE: How have COVID and its related effects affected your art this year?

Pittie: Initially, during lockdown, I felt paralyzed and unable and unwilling to make art, but slowly I found that working in my studio helped bring back a sense of optimism. I went through phases of working intensively for long hours, and sometimes, days would go by before I painted at all. I started a daily drawing practice in March, and I think that has been the most significant result of the pandemic. I have been working daily on small drawings on paper with color pencils, and I also work with yarn—knitting, stitching, and sewing have provided comfort.

The pandemic has also allowed me to have long periods of being immersed in art making and to put things in a different perspective. I’m not sure if the effects are visible in my paintings yet, but I’m sure they will be over time as I continue my drawing practice.

VIE: What other projects or exhibitions do you have coming up in 2020 and beyond?

Pittie: I am collaborating with CPS Lives this year and am excited to have the opportunity to tell the story of a Chicago public school through the lens of an artist. You can learn about it at CPSLives.org. My work will also be shown at EXPO Chicago through the McCormick Gallery in April 2021, and I will have my second solo show with McCormick Gallery in the fall of 2021.

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Visit PoojaPittie.com to learn more and see more of her work.