Shanthi Chandrasekar

Shanthi Chandrasekar is a Maryland-based artist who has been drawing and painting since early childhood. Her interest in understanding different forms of visual media has led her to experiment with drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and papermaking. She has also been trained in the traditional art forms of Kolam and Tanjore-style painting. While many of her works are influenced by her Indian heritage, her true inspiration comes from the mystery and majesty of the world around her. Her muse lives where the scientific overlaps with the spiritual.

Chandrasekar has won the Individual Artist Award and grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and as well as the Maryland Traditions Master Apprentice Award to teach Kolam. Her artwork is in the Montgomery Public Art and other collections. She has exhibited and presented her work in several galleries and institutions including Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Gandhi Memorial Center, and the Smithsonian. She designed the Kolam concept for the 2021 Kolam Project that involved community participation to install a 1950-tile Kolam in front of the Capitol Building in Washington DC. This project was also included in the 2021 Presidential Inauguration kick off.