Manjula Padmanabhan

Lives and works in Providence, RI

Artist statement

When I draw for newspapers, magazines or children’s books, I am usually focused on day-to-day reality. Perhaps for this reason, when I draw or paint as an artist, I enjoy going beyond everyday sights. I like pulling at the edges of visual world, merging textures and forms to create impossible yet mildly humorous hybrids such as “JUNGLE FOWL”. Every new drawing opens the door to yet more ideas. But there’s never enough time for me to “release” all the ideas in my mental warehouse before they start to fade and vanish from view! There are times when I wish that I could stop eating and sleeping for a couple of weeks, just in order to let the current run around in the real world, outside my head. It never happens, however. Manjula Padmanabhan, September 2026

Artwork