Aarti Iyer

Aarti is a Canadian artist who works intuitively in a variety of media. Her work can be described as abstract impressionism. As a self-taught artist, studying the work of timeless masters and contemporary artists alike has helped her develop her unique style, which involves layering dabs of thick paint. Truly passionate about celebrating the amazing wonders of nature, she derives inspiration from everywhere. Her paintings often capture the vast beauty of nature surrounding Calgary, the land that she calls home. In her words, “I don’t paint, I Play. Every time I play with my brushes, I celebrate life and freedom. Every mark and every colour I lay down, weave together to form a recognizable story. A story that emotionally connects us to nature. A story that sparks joy.” 

Her process begins with free-flowing marks and splashes of colour, which are guided intuitively in response to her source of inspiration. This sets the stage and mood for additional layers of paint or scraps of paper to cover it up with, leaving some of the previous layers to peek through, creating a ton of variety. This process leaves the viewers sharing the same feeling of curiosity to discover and create their story behind each mark, shape, and colour. 

As a self-taught artist, I use every experience to experiment, learn, and explore opportunities. I love all things nature and celebrate nature’s wonders one brush mark at a time. I try to capture the play of light, the dazzling brilliance of colour it affects, and the emotion felt at that instant through layers and layers of thick juicy paint. I seek every opportunity to express myself freely focusing only on enjoying the painting process rather than the outcome. The freedom and joy it invokes pave my path to the magical world of endless possibility.