Totem Poles Painting

Jayant Avva is a self taught artist and writer, who also has significant science and engineering training. He learned how to sketch in various media as a child, and experimented with oil, tempera, turpentine and various other media as a teenager. He also experimented with lithography and wood carvings during the same period. A significant influence and inspiration for him during this time was his study of ‘The Great Artists’ (Marshall-Cavendish) series of books, and related art books, notably Giorgio Vasari’s classic ‘The Lives’. He picked up many sketching tips from David Hockney’s excellent books on drawing, and by copying the great masters, notably Leonardo da Vinci, El Greco, Antoine Watteau, Thomas Gainsborough, Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and others. He was also significantly influenced by the Thangka art of Robert Beer and similar artists. While pursuing a science career, he started using ultra complex doodling as a means for stress relief, and this has become a key feature of his art. Over the years, he has continued to refine his artistic expression and creates pieces that synthesize Western realist and surrealist art with Kalankari art, Thangka art, aboriginal cave art and basic geometric shapes. “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” ― Vincent Willem van Gogh “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ― Pablo Picasso “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” ― Albert Einstein, The World As I See It