Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikitha Madduri.
Nikitha, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I’m from Hyderabad, India, and I lived there all my life, until the day I decided that I want to study photography and that I want to know every detail to excel in this form of art.
My actual passion towards Photography began when I was working with a top photography company in Hyderabad, India. I had a very bright smile everyday while going to work and had sweat and frowns by the end of the day. That’s how exhausting this job was, but I enjoyed every moment of it.
I was in my final year of Engineering when I decided to make the move and after a lot of struggle convincing my parents, I landed in Los Angeles to pursue Photography. Everything around me was new, all I had was the vision and passion I carried around with a hint of my Indian culture in the world’s number 1 country and the world’s best city.
With zero help and with zero knowledge in and around LA, I managed to complete my education. All my weekends were consumed with planning and shooting for myself and my classes.
I was always fascinated by the art and little details, while people around me were most caught up with grades and being their best in education, I use to take breaks from my classes from a very young age and go up to our school playground and sit there and just watch how people are playing, eating and shouting their lungs out. Then later I use to go to primary block where I use to sit with little kids and help them make craft works, I never realized that I had this very deep thinking mentality until a few years back. In the country I live in, we don’t have middle schools and high schools. We have Primary schools and 1st to 10th grades then comes intermediate college where we study 11th and 12th grades. I shot all the days that I went to school in my 10th grade and I video tapped each class without professors seeing it. That day, that age I never really knew why I was doing that, but now I know.
I was into all art forms from when I was a very young girl, but photography for me is memory, photography is dairy, it is connection and for some people it is purest form of art.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I like to take inspiration from our very old Mythological Characters and History. I create my Artwork by reading and visualizing their characters and try to give them life through my pictures.
My Images are inspired by Poets, Painters and Play’s who describe woman so sensual and give them that power of beauty, I shot an Image inspired by Kalidasa’s Play, The character’s name is “Shakuntala”, which dominates the play.
I love everything about India and Indian Mythological Characters. As every character has something or the other to teach present day human kind.
The thing about my artwork is that I don’t think twice to re-create a character or I don’t take much time to visualize a character that touches my heart.
I re-created images of “Lady Pleasure” with a stone wall behind to re-present the work they did when there were kings and kingdoms in India. I’m not afraid to show what I think.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
Yes, sure… I got one. 💁🏻
But I wouldn’t call it an Advice. I would say more of Wise Words – “Start Early, And Don’t Take Break’s In This Art World” 😇😘
I got like crazy life lessons and there are way too many to describe.
But one for now would be “that I wish I knew I was this crazy from my early days”.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My Artwork has been published in VincentPrice Art museum, Monterey Park, California, in 2015 from Sept to Dec.
I’m also on Instagram and Facebook by the name Nikki Madduri, like and follow my work there 😜.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nikithamadduri.myportfolio.com
- Email: nikki.madduri@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikki.madduri/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikki.madduri/
Image Credit:
Nikki Madduri
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
