​Lavanya Challa
I grew up painting landscapes, portraits, and buildings, but always felt constrained by my need to be true to the subject and the colors. I could never use the colors that I liked the way I wanted. I never found in nature what I wanted to paint. That’s when I discovered my current/own style of painting which is mostly non-object art. I enjoy the freedom to re-imagine the life around me. I like to challenge my viewer to form their own interpretation of my painting. I want to nudge people towards the idea that we need not do or be things to fit it, and we can create our own journey free from expectations and constraints.  I want to disrupt the automatic way of looking at life and have people be excited and take them into another world of joy and happiness.  I work mainly in acrylics, which allows me to work fast, combining a variety of different materials to create interesting textures. My process is very unusual, I develop a painting across a span of several weeks, constantly tweaking and teasing it out. It allows me to incorporate several ideas into a painting, and the painting grows along with me. This way of working also allows me to keep my work always current and updated.  I experiment and play with different materials and discover how they complement or synchronize, that often finds itself into my next painting. I really love how a bunch of unrelated marks and brush work come together to make a beautiful complete picture!