"CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES" GALLERY TALK AT THE SF ATRIUM

Indo-American artist Kavita Bali discusses the impact her cultural heritage has had on her art work.

SAN FRANCISCO, California -- Kavita Bali a respected artist residing in Silicon Valley, will be speaking on the issue of 'Cultural Perspectives' at the 'RISD on the Road' Art Exhibit on March 2, 2001. She will discuss her artistic journey: as an Indian girl who grew up in an American world and is continuously uniting the 2 cultures in her life through art.

Kavita Bali (RISD '87), a Palo Alto resident, and Steve Jones (RISD '98) will speak on Friday, March 2, 2001 from 7-8pm at the opening of the 'RISD on the Road' Gallery Exhibit. A Juried Exhibit of Printmaking and Photography by Rhode Island School of Design Alumni featuring 47 artists and 90 works of art shall be on display from March 1 - 23, 2001. The Exhibit is housed at The Atrium at 600 Townsend (formerly The Contract Design Center) in San Francisco. The Opening reception will be from 5-8pm. For further details contact : 415.864.8541

" Much of my art deals with cultural awareness," states Kavita. "It is about seeking out an identity as an individual in a world where society tries to categorize people as 'American', 'Indian', 'modern', 'traditional', 'eastern', 'western'. My explorations in art are a way to get to the universality of our underlying humanity, without the societal 'labels'."

Over the past 18 years, Kavita has worked with a diverse set of artistic mediums including ink drawing, painting, silkscreen, photography, film, poetry, web design and most recently digital painting. "For me art is a way of being free to define myself without society's pre-formatted labels. While I was growing up in upstate New York in the 1970's, with few Indians around, one of the greatest obstacles I faced was to counterbalance the predominant stereotypes of Indians as a poverty-stricken people in need of world hunger relief with the equally stereotypical images of Kings and Queens riding on jeweled elephants. I was forced to map out a world that would enable me to understand my own truth of being 'Indian'."

Kavita will discuss these challenges and how she sought to capture her interpretation of her cultural heritage through her artistic explorations. "A number of my Indian peers struggled with the 'black' and 'white' reactions. Either I witnessed blatant rebellion from tradition or the fearful ball and chain approach to make sure the 'kids grew up right'. Neither of these extremes felt true to me. They reflected what could happen to any immigrant group when the pressures of 'assimilation' versus 'maintaining a cultural identity' come to a crossroads. It was at this time I truly started to dissect the concept of cultural identity through my art. I saw myself as an individual first, a member of a cultural society as second."

Kavita began her artistic journey at the Rhode Island School of Design. "RISD forced me to confront my individuality and utilize creativity as a vehicle for self-expression." It was during the mid-1980's that Kavita was able to examine her budding voice as an artist. Today, Kavita is a member of the Asian American Women Artists Association. Her art is part of private collections throughout the U.S.

"Kavita Bali captures the world with a definitive eye, stopping the flow of time and space through her lenses. She shares with us some transcendental moments, where the feminine body locates itself against a world that parades at times against a canvass of demands, and in other times, strolls in the lazy glow of memory. " stated Roger T. Lee of the Chinatown Community Arts Program at the AAWAA's 'Seven Voices' Exhibit in July, 2000.

She creates under the philosophy that there are no limits to what one can achieve, that limits are artificial. "If you can imagine an idea," she says, "you can make it happen. Getting to the point where you can imagine the idea comes through observation, analysis and interpretation. And that comes from the number of ways that you can see. The only true limit is how far your perseverance will take you."

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NOTE: Images from Kavita's talk 'Cultural Perspectives' are available as B&W photos, color slides and jpegs. If you would like to request an image, please email Kavita Bali at: kavita@urbanpeacock.com.

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