About Me
Anjali Venkat is a glass artist with an eclectic sense of art and design. Born in 1965, she has over 25 years of experience in different glass working techniques – including kiln-formed glass, copper foiled stained glass and glass mosaic. In her work, she puts an emphasis on using post-consumer glass like windows, bottles, and mirrors.
In recent years, she has operated independent art studios in Chennai (2005-13) as well as in Singapore (2013-present) displaying her work at various independent exhibitions and art galleries. The following is a curated list of her work and solo shows over the past few years:
- 2018 Altereal – Dreaming in Glass (Chennai): Wall art and sculptures exhibition using post-consumer glass held at Apparao Galleries.
- 2017-18 The Istana Open House (Singapore): Mosaic art sessions with President Tony Tan (2017) and President Halimah Yacob (2018).
- 2017 Serene Senior Living (Puducherry): Mosaic mural-making workshops for the elderly and staff at Serene Pelican.
- 2016 St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort (Maldives): Wall art installations in 11 rooms, including the Presidential Suite.
- 2016 Fei Yue Seniors Activity Centre Singapore): Mosaic mural-making workshop for the elderly, organised by Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
- 2012 Wearable Art Glass (Bengaluru): Glass jewellery exhibition organised by A Hundred Hands.
- 2011 Kabadiwali (Bengaluru): Upcycled glass art and furniture exhibition held at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath.
- 2010 Wood Paper Glass (Chennai): Upcycled glass art and furniture exhibition held at Anjali Design studio.
In her own words…
The quest is to find beauty in the unexpected.
I have always been fascinated by and interested in all types of art and craft. As a child I would spend hours looking thru a kaleidoscope. My experiments with glass began by breaking and manipulating thin glass bangles over a candle flame. The vibrant rich colors of glass and pieces of sparkling mirror have always been able to hold my attention.
I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to travel and the sights, colours, crafts and people around the world are a huge inspiration to me.
My sense of art and design is eclectic. I like to incorporate the unusual into my work- to give a new twist to ordinary things. The universe is made up of some of the most awe inspiring and beautiful things. I like to use organic forms like slices of agates and shells in my work.
The design process always starts with a flash of inspiration, be it a colour combination, a motif or the play of light and shadow forming patterns on a wall. If I am making something to display at my studio my freewheeling imagination takes over. For a client, attention is paid to the brief- requirements in terms of style, design, colour and function.
As with anything else there is no substitute of hard work and practice. Glass is a difficult medium to work with. It has a mind of its own and the challenge is to be able to control and manipulate the material to do what you want it to.
The more I work with glass the more I am aware of the possibilities that can be achieved. Also with time my design sensibilities have got refined and today I am more aware of and work towards reusing, recycling and a more energy efficient method of work.
The challenge is to transform society’s undesirable waste into something that is functional and aesthetically pleasing – to conjure up alternative uses to ordinary things.
Like a sheet of ordinary window glass that is kiln formed to make a ‘draped vase’ or used and discarded glass bottles that are manipulated and reformed into planters and candleholders. Also beautiful magazine and calendar papers that are used to make collages on wood.
I love every aspect of my work. The whole process of starting with listening to the clients brief, deciding the style, coming up with the design, choosing the colours and then finally the fabrication of the pieces is enthralling.