I love different kinds of photography, but to be able to create something from my imagination is what really excites me. I find that going beyond the boundaries of reality is what best allows me to translate feelings and concepts into a visual story.

I want to inspire a sense of wonder, and for my viewers to develop stories about what they’re seeing.  Fantasy has always been important to me, whether it be in the form of movies, books, or games.  There are so many stressful things going on in our lives, especially recently, and fantasies can allow us to take a break, relax a bit, and recharge ourselves.  Sometimes we lose sight of the more enjoyable parts of life when we’re too focused on the frustrating ones.

I am Sripriya Mozumdar, an ex-marketing professional turned self-taught artist, based in Mumbai, India. While I have always been drawn to art since childhood; my academic and professional backgrounds led me to marketing communications and to a busy corporate life. Becoming a mother forced a sabbatical and gave me the opportunity to chase my true calling and my work today as a full-time artist.

My wife was my inspiration. I had started to get back into painting with acrylics but was taking almost a year to complete a single painting. At the same time, my wife had discovered pastel and was creating amazing photorealistic paintings in a fraction of the time. So one day, I decided to give pastel a try and the rest is history!

I’m a shameless daydreamer and quite the adventurous soul. I have an endless curiosity to explore the natural world and beyond. My work is an exploration of my own curiosity for the strange and unknown, for what doesn’t exist in this reality and for the darker parts of myself. I aspire to ignite the viewer’s curiosity for the magic in the world and whisk them away to a place less ordinary.

The opportunity to nourish my creative spirit came once our children grew. My wonderful husband said ‘take a break for a year and do what your heart desires (well not quite those words but you get the idea) and I did just that.  As my youngest child entered school, I set myself up at home and began to experiment and create for as many hours as mothering would allow.  A ‘years break’ turned into my full-time passion for painting.

I like the sense of longevity that I associate with paintings. I am representing ordinary people within their everyday lives, and I feel that recreating a single moment with paint elevates that moment.

In 2008, I discovered sculpture, modeling characters coming from pop art and fantasy culture. But it is in 2013-2015, by interacting with several professional sculptors, that sculpting took a new dimension in my life. It became a real passion, which drove me into pathways and adventures constantly renewed.

I was raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. I began painting when I was about 12 years old because I was inspired by my aunt, who is an artist. I didn’t decide that I wanted to pursue a career as a full-time artist until…

I believe that artistic practice allows a symbolic realization of fantasy. Moreover, working with different genres of arts and using associations upon associations bring about a great deal of information, perspectives shedding light on an obscure truth. My works are tools of expression that enable the removal of the inner world and provide power, answers to questions and peace of mind.

I fell in love with photography in my high school darkroom. I found every excuse possible to spend my time there. The magic of watching paper develop in the chemistry was utterly intoxicating; I was addicted. I studied fine art photography at Oakland Community College (OCC) in their extensive darkroom and studio.

Nowadays, I don’t feel there is much difference between painting myself to any other person I paint, as I focus on creating the shapes that create the form. During a life drawing class when I was in college I was told to “draw what you see - not what you think you see”. I tell this to myself when trying to abstract the shapes and colours from the person and focus, for example, on what light and shadow shapes make up the nose, rather than what I think the outline of the nose is supposed to be.

I was an avid creative writer when I was younger; to the point where I ended up having a few poems and short stories published. Unfortunately, when I was a pre-teen, I developed certain mental health difficulties which made it incredibly hard for me to get the words out of my brain and onto the page. I needed a way to tell stories without having to try to turn the vision in my brain into words and after discovering the work of other conceptual photographers, I realised that photography was a medium where I felt I could express myself in the way I needed.

I knew I would be an artist since I was very young. Perhaps it was a very natural path for me, as I could feel my passion for the creative outlet take shape in my early childhood years, growing up in my mother's ceramic studio in the Czech Republic.

I am primarily a portrait painter who loves painting the people of traditional cultures that I encounter throughout my travels, the heroes of science, and commissioned portraits of clients who are leaders in their various fields.

Drawing, offers and rewards me freedom, a freedom to create an individual language through mark-making and tonal range. It is a personal journey which continues to adapt and grow with each completed artwork. There is a dept of undiscovered and personal knowledge which I continue to seek and learn, through the process of drawing and creating.

I was photographing the sea one summer at sunset in Gallipoli, Italy and I was mesmerized by the water’s beauty. I had a strong knowing that these photographs were meant to inspire my next painting(s) and that’s exactly what happened. One painting turned into a whole series of paintings and now looking back I can connect the dots and see how influential being near the water has been on my life. Water is home to me.

At the beginning of my practice, I exclusively did portraits of my face, where I would place the weight of transmitting the emotion in my eyes, naturally, as my journey progressed, I started showing my face less often; at some point, I started to feel that my message wasn't only about me anymore, instead, it was for anybody who resonates with the message I was sharing in that particular image, furthermore, my face was totally unnecessary and it would even, in my opinion, take away from the real protagonist that at that moment is the viewer.

I am a reformed classical cellist who chose to become a painter. Switching careers mid-stream isn’t easy, but I found painting was much more rewarding than sitting in an orchestra playing Mahler symphonies. Once I hit my stride painting, I never looked back.