Story, Interpreter of nature:

Nature, color, and mediation are the three keywords in Usha Shukla’s life and abstract painting. Growing up in the colorful Indian culture, Shukla developed a high sensitivity to color. The vibrant colors are rooted in her childhood memories. As a first-generation immigrant, Shukla felt out of place and disoriented after moving to California. She found sanctuary in nature and immersed herself in it, feeling the air and observing the light. Air is an integral natural element and acts as a tool in Shukla’s unique painting technique. Shukla transports her interpretation of nature-- the light and shadows, and her emotions, into multiple layers of colors and shapes on her canvas. In Usha’s world, the color is not still: it is moving, it has temperature, and it has texture. Shukla’s artwork represents a balance between her subconscious landscape and the physical world. Her emotional and meditative paintings invoke a sense of a non-judgmental and peaceful place for the viewer.

Fun Fact

Shukla always signs on the back of her paintings because she wants people to recognize her work without seeing her name on it.