Amita Bhakta moved from India as a teenager and has lived in Florence, Alabama for over 40 years. Her work is filled with stories from the land of her ancestors and ties to her present and future. This mix of cultures is displayed in all her paintings and clay artwork.
She believes that if art (whether visual, performing, or
literature) is eliminated from people’s lives, civilized
society would struggle to exist. Amita says, “It’s clear that artists breathe freshness, growth, vitality, energy, and life into our social fabric and
consciousness. Without art – society would stop flourishing and renewing itself – it would become stale, stagnate, and eventually decay. I am privileged to be part of the tribe of artists.”
Amita’s paintings are like sonnets that tell stories with colors, lines, and shapes that challenge, excite, and immerse her. She says, “in this line, if my paintings are my
sonnets then my pottery are my haikus – where the shape is my narrative. Whether it is functional or nonfunctional, working with clay, I can create the most interesting shapes, reflective of my cultural background, and events around me.”
During the Pandemic, she created about 30 paintings inspired from our Sanskrit teachings and texts for an exhibition titled, “Moments of Radiance.” This exhibition won the hearts of many last year while on display at the Tennessee Valley Museum
of Art.
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