RVA is known for its thriving visual art scene, and newcomer Sishir Bommakanti is doing his best to break into it.
RVA is known for its thriving visual art scene, and newcomer Sishir Bommakanti is doing his best to break into it.
After receiving his BFA in illustration from Ringling College, Bommakanti began hit journey to find a unique voice in the often crowded world of visual art. Initially, all of his sketches were done with an ink pen and lacked any connection or continuity. As time progressed, however, so did his artistry.
He has gone from solely abstract fragments to life and human figures. The artist shared he prefers the terms visual voice or visual language rather than style because it give the aesthetics of an artist’s process a little more respect.
“My visual language often involves the surreal, absurd and sometime falls into the realm of metaphysical,” said Bommakanti. “I tend to gravitate towards the weird, morbid and unknown.”
His artistic progression is very clearly shown throughout his sketchbooks, showing a transition of random drawings to thorough designs where all of the sketches on the page are intertwined.
His use of color also progresses, as he starts out with just plain ink pens and slowly adds color and depth. Bommakanti has now redrawn his limits by using paint markers as well as digitizing some of his work. “I could never leave the house without Montana paint markers.” he said.
Bommakanti speaks highly of his sketch or ‘vanity’ books, but does not keep them secret like other artists opt to. Many artists will have several sketchbooks just for personal consumption, and then wait until they have perfected an idea or piece before submitting. Even though he refers to some of his work as trial and error, he does not agree with this method of artistry.
“I make a lot of mistakes but those mistakes work together to make a beautiful composition.” he said.
In addition to helping perfect his artistry, the illustrator’s sketch books can serve as a stress reliever, Bommakanti ascribes to this belief as well.
“Any time you see something that’s slightly odd,” said Bommakanti. “That’s me taking something negative that’s been building up in my mind and I draw it out.”
Currently, Bommakanti is freelancing in the hopes of landing a permanent client. He has been submitting his work in the form of zines to potential clients. “I’ve just been aggressively making and sending work out,” he said.
As expected in any field, he has received plenty of negative responses. Despite the rejections, he focuses on the ample prospects who have given him praise on his process. He attributes his success on his ability to shift compulsivity to organization and a “… drive to get shit done.”
With a BFA and a plan to get his Masters, Bommakanti has proven to enjoy education, and said that sometime in the future we may see him on the opposite side of the classroom. His time as an assistant teacher at VCU’s summer art intensive has helped him to lean toward teaching as a full-time profession. “I would love to teach,” he said. “It was really challenging but I found myself learning a lot of more than I normally would have because I had to go back and make sure it’s thought out in a way that’s not too complicated.”
Next in line for Bommakanti is to step outside of comfort zone. “I don’t want to be that artist that draws the same thing over and over.” he said.
Though he wants to branch out, Bommakanti said that it is important to him that he stay true to his style when trying to win clients over. He mentions an old mentor, and talks about how he was able to imprint that bit of advice on his brain. “Make something with the notion that people are going to look at it, but not to impress people.” he said
Bommakanti wants to start making pieces that revolve around our current socio-political climate. “We live in a time where people are starting to realize that there are lots of facades within our institution and within America,” he said. “I’ve been really considering how I can use my skills to create illustrations and statements that deal with the political and social situations of today.”
Bommakanti wants to be more involved, but not for the sake of showmanship. He spoke of his desire to figure out which causes tugged at his heartstrings saying, “[I ask myself] how is this personal to me, so I can find a voice so I’m not doing it just to do it,” he said. “I don’t want to provide anything arbitrary.”
A few of his more recent pieces are in relevance to the discourse in Uganda as well as the anti-gay bill in Russia. There is a large issue with the apathy regarding suicide in India, and Bommakanti, who is of Indian decent, has channeled his negative feelings about the problem into some moving pieces.
If you would like to check out more of Bommakanti’s work or if you are dying to contact him for work, check out his tumblr, his website, or his Instagram.
