Meet Dayanita Ramesh | Artist, Writer & Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dayanita Ramesh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dayanita, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
“The most important assignment of life: To begin each day afresh, as if it were the first day and yet to assemble and have at one’s entire disposal the entire past with all its results and forgotten lessons.” Georg Simmel

I love this quote, but I can’t remember the first time I heard it! I think it was in an art history class in college. At some point afterward, I wrote each word on pieces of unlined notebook paper using black watercolor paint. I taped each one at the very top of the wall like crown molding around my room. Years later, while I don’t know what happened to those pages, I have the quote written on the front matter in a small journal that I keep daily to-do lists and random thoughts. It’s a quote I keep writing down. To me, it means that you should remember, the best you can, your past experiences and wisdom, and, at the same time, take each day like it was the very first day of your life and be open to new experiences and possibilities without judgment. I like this quote because it suggests that what you should strive towards in your life is balancing what you know and don’t know, cynicism and naiveté and even realism and idealism.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Ever since I can remember, I’ve created visual art. I’ve always felt natural and comfortable drawing, painting, writing, sculpting, or even trying a new medium outside my regular practice, like woodworking. I’m never not working on a project or scheming about an art project. Painting and illustrating never felt like something I chose to do; I just started doing it.

I have experience illustrating and painting projects, including picture books, murals, videos, editorial illustrations, show posters, and album art. I have also worked on projects with commercial clients, including Crooked Media, Studio DIY, and With Others Wine Bar. I love to learn about artists and their practices, and I am curious about topics in philosophy and psychology. I explore these ideas in my newsletter, Take Your Time. I do all of this while also having a full-time job in political communications, and I believe my work in politics has heavily informed my approach to art. Political communications can be frantic and unpredictable, making me more intentional and thoughtful about slowing down when it comes to my art.

There have been ups and downs in my creative journey, and what’s helped me is remembering to take it one day at a time, keep creating, keep going, and not give up. You have to stay true to your ideas and vision, have patience, and take the time to cultivate and refine your ideas. I’m always proud of what I’ve created but never satisfied, and that’s what moves me to the next project.

Right now, I have a couple of projects in the works:
– I just finished illustrating a personal and special picture book for my niece and nephew.
– I’m working on a painting I hope to finish before the year’s end.
– I’m writing the final Take Your Time, my Substack newsletter, for 2024!
– For 2025, I’m exploring the idea of opening a mini gallery in my home in Pasadena. Right now, I am researching what it would take to do this logistically, what sort of permitting or permissions are necessary, and brainstorming the philosophy and ethos of the space and what kind of programming I envision.
– I wrote the manuscript for another picture book and have been sporadically sketching illustrations. In 2025, I want to complete thumbnails and a dummy book and prepare to submit it to agents to one day publish!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
It’s so hard to narrow down, but I’ll try!

I want to eat with them at Jitlada, Quartersheets, Amiga Amore, Dune, Barra Santos, Tacos Guelaguetza, Agnes, Ggiata Delicatessen, and Lasita. I’d love to grab a drink (or two!) with them at Bar Chelou, Good Neighbor Bar, Wild Parrot, Walt’s, and Cafe Triste. We’d start our day with coffee and pastries from Mandarin, Kumquat, Loop Espresso Club, Intelligentsia, or Rosebud. Throughout the week, I’d love to go with them to the Huntington Garden, Norton Simon Museum, LACMA, The Museum of Jurassic Technology, maybe a beach day at Leo Carillo State Beach (after picking up breakfast burritos from Country Kitchen) and MOCA/The Geffen Contemporary. I’d check out the calendar for a show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall or Hollywood Bowl (depending on the time of year), Permanent Records Roadhouse, Zebulon, or another fun bar/music venue.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate this shoutout to my sister and my husband. Their unwavering support and encouragement of my artistic practice have been a constant positive force throughout my journey. They have been with me for the ups and downs, and their steadfastness and belief in me and what I can accomplish has helped me in ways I cannot adequately describe. They’ve both believed in my and my vision when I failed to believe in myself.

Website: https://dayanitaramesh.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dayanitaramesh

Other: https://norush.substack.com/

Image Credits
Images all courtesy of me!