Harsha Rodage is an emerging artist who doesn’t have formal art education. She has a master’s degree in Engineering Management from California State University. As a child she was always interested in drawing and painting, but her family encouraged her to get into the technical field. She used to draw free hand drawings, henna tattoos, landscapes and rangolis during festivals and vacations. At a later stage in life, as stress of work increased, she turned toward drawing and painting as a form of recreation. She started with acrylic painting following online tutorials. She then joined an online workshop by an Indian artist Shashikant Dhotre and learnt about the pastel medium and techniques. She resides in Portland, Oregon with her husband and a 14-year-old daughter. They have a beautiful dog named “Bubbles”

Artist Statement

My work is realistic figurative art portraying Indian women, their relationships, and the culture. I landed in the US with an infant girl, and I always had this question “how do I pass on our culture and values to her?” The many Indian women I met throughout my life here, thought them, I learnt how they protect and pass on Indian culture to the next generation. Most of my current work and future projects focus on that part of my life. My next projects are going to depict mother daughter relationships. I am also working on a still life series named “Treasures”. Many first-generation immigrants know the pain of leaving their life behind. Through the years when we travel home, we accumulate things that are close to our hearts, one
at a time, during each trip. “Treasures”, it is an effort to depict such memories. Some might be keepsakes, some might be adorning our homes giving that traditional feel, some might be part of our daily lives, but all of them are the happiness that we carry with us when we leave home, to come back to this home.
I use pastel pencils, pan-pastels, on black paper. It takes 12-15 layers to achieve the desired skin tone or the fabric finness. I personally like doing jewelry and fabric details. In my series called “New beginnings”, I have tried to portray Indian brides on their special day with various emotions captured in different pieces. The art piece “Vidhi (Ritual)” depicts bride performing rituals and in the piece “Engrossed” you should be able to see the happy dreams behind the closed eyes. It also signifies “New Beginnings” of my life as I start my journey into the magnificent world of art. I always wished to spread awareness about Indian culture and its richness around the world and now I have found the medium, my artworks!!

Achievements
Won a place in 110th Allied artist competition and got displayed at Butler Art Museum Sept 2023
Won "Best in Show" for Pastel artist of Oregon exhibition – Oct 2023
Was invited for "Small Wonders" show by Reser center for arts – Nov-Dec 2023
Solo Exhibition at Guardino Gallery in Pearl District, Portland OR – May 2023
Got displayed at The Reser center of Arts at Beaverton Art mix and received an Honorable mention – Sept 2022
Various Bronze and silver awards at online art