Designer Profile: Mira Malhotra

Ahmedabad-based Mira Malhotra is an artist cum graphic designer. Young, and studying at NID, her designs are already quite sharp, with the promise of a great deal of interesting work coming out of her studio in the future. Watch out for this spunky gal, she is surely going to go places!

Artists are influenced by the things and people around them. Mira has been especially lucky in this respect. Brought up in an amalgamation of cultures by parents of different states, and having grown up in the Middle East, she tends to reinterpret the world around her uniquely — using Indian culture, folk art and handicraft with their quaintness and peculiarities in a modern visual language: bold, bright and graphic.
      
Mira’s art is characterised by wit, humour and love of nonsense. With a penchant for crafting images, she is a creator of design and illustration for music, magazines, toys, books or just where her fancy takes her.

Cut-OK-Paste
Originally made for the Kalaghoda Project, Mira now offers these paper toys
downloadable for free here. All she asks is that you don’t use it for
commercial purposes, and give due credit if you are posting it on the net.

Underwater
 – A digital art, photo manipulated collage
At the Wall Project at Tulsi Pipe Road, Mahim Station, Mumbai |An impromptu drawing of the Khamsa meaning ‘five’ in Arabic, a Jewish/Islamic hand-shaped talisman used to ward off the evil eye. This piece features the symmetrical Khamsa with an eye on its palm (a common depiction) surrounded by lotuses, waves and seafoam. Yorick Pinto painted most of it and some of the slumdwelling children in the surrounding area helped paint little bits.
Oil paint + Acrylic Distemper + Stainers | Photo Courtesy: Nikhil Sandhu.
Yoga Nidra  – Album cover for Sony Music
Mira’s interpretation of the brief was to bring in elements of nature in a pleasing, balanced design. The curves flow organically and the balance is achieved by using symmetry. Subtle, cool, floral colors inspired by the Indian landscape do not overpower the viewer. A completely Indian look was not required for this inlay, so she stuck to a generic visual language, translating Indian motifs into a modern, more global design.
Mad in India wallpaper
DVD Cover for Taj Enlighten Film Society

Mira dreams of having her own studio, specializing in design for children, music, and books. She adds, :..and a quirky product line on the side wouldn’t hurt either!” I love the diversity of your work. Good Luck, Mira. Way to go!

11 Comments

  1. Mira sure is a talented lady. I downloaded those paper toys just now, I'm sure they'll look cool when I make them. Thanks Mira.

  2. Ohh the Cut-Ok-Please paper models are awesome!!! 🙂 I've downloaded them too. These would be perfect for Office decor 🙂 Will make a few for my friends on Diwali. Thanks Mira.

    Thanks Sharon for sharing the links.

  3. truly enjoyed reading this

  4. What a talented lady !..thanks for the post Sharon :)..well done Mira !

  5. beautiful quirky creations. love the paper box dolls.

  6. Such a bundle of talent.. Honestly!! I'm in awe!! and have no words.. Such an amazing post!! Its nice to see the lovely colours.. and use of graphics.. wow!! wow!

  7. Gosh! This is such a coincidence! I was going to feature her too! A friend of hers asked me to check out Mira's work… Its a small world 🙂

  8. I loved that photo art. There's something so otherworldly about it.
    I have to go back to the Tulsi Pipe road to check on her art. I'm fascinated by the images there (though quite a bit of it has been destroyed by indiscriminate posters stuck everywhere now).
    I love people who have a strong streak of nonsense in them! 🙂

  9. When it comes to artists influenced by nature and people I'm sure Mira is one of them. Her art definitely comes from her own perception of different things which would reflect in the art work displayed. I love humor and very few artist like Mira can make art appear to be more interesting.

  10. Thanks everyone! Am so happy you appreciated the work. I will be making more toys soon, so watch out! 😀