“I grew up with the parrot, with the sparrow, with the peacock.”
An Interview with Take Notice Fund Artist Geeta Dave
• 10 minute read
NPN’s Take Notice Fund has been supporting the creative practice and wellbeing of BIPOC artists in Louisiana since 2021. To bring more visibility to Louisiana’s artists of color, NPN asked past Take Notice Fund awardees to talk with us about their work and careers.
Geeta Dave, a 2022 Take Notice Fund grantee, is a painter from Prairieville, LA, whose work incorporates the wildlife and culture of her childhood in India. In this colorful interview, Geeta talks about growing up surrounded by animals, how she was drawn to art from an early age, and the evolution of her artistic career after she moved to the United States.
This interview was recorded in 2024. In 2025, Geeta’s work appeared in “Surreal Salon 17” at the Baton Rouge Gallery Center for Contemporary Art in Baton Rouge, LA.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
NPN:
You were born in India and moved to America as an adult. What was your childhood like?
Geeta Dave:
I come from a middle-class family in India, where my father was a decorative traditional artist and art teacher. We were four siblings. While I was growing up, besides just teaching, my father always had some art projects going on such as a book illustration, or decorating an exhibition booth, or restoring mural projects, and I always worked with him. So, I had many learning experiences with him.
When I was about 11 years old, I won a Soviet Land Nehru award which was a national art contest. The award was to attend the Artek international children’s camp in Russia for one month. They picked five children throughout all of India, so I was fortunate.
During my 10th grade year, I received a Certificate of Merit for international selection of a painting in World Wildlife Funds in Switzerland. This was due to my great interest in saving wildlife and its value to our world.
NPN:
So you were always focused on the visual arts, even as a child?
Geeta:
My father wanted me to go into teaching art because he was a teacher, and every parent wants a stable life for their children. You know, “Oh, they’re going to earn a solid income, and they’re going to be fine.”
So, after 10th grade I was admitted to an art teaching school where I finished my art teacher diploma. I was certified to teach in two years. But my uncle thought I was too young to teach. He believed I was extremely talented, and he convinced my father to send me to one of the best fine arts colleges in India, Maharaja Sayajirao (MS) University in Vadodara, India.
I earned my four-year undergraduate degree there in creative painting, and then I finished my master’s in creative painting and murals. During that time, I became aware of how women were treated in society, so I had a series of paintings on that subject for my post-graduation.
After that, I opened a creative arts center in my hometown. And for two years I ran the creative arts center.
During that time, I did a painting based on a particular raga. I don’t know if you are familiar with ragas, but each one is a piece of music about a specific moment or feeling. So my painting, Richness of Seasons, was all about right before the rain and the atmosphere it creates, and how the peacocks start talking with each other. There were dark clouds with lightning and a feeling of thunder. That was the painting for which I won a National Award through the All-India Kalidas Academy, Ujjain, India.
I thought that this is the right way that I’m going, and I became more interested in studying in Raga Mala and learning how each season has its own beautiful Prakruti.
And I got married! I like to take risks. So, I met my future husband and one and a half hours later we decided to get married. Then I came to America.
NPN:
It’s interesting that you mentioned that you were into saving wildlife as a child, since many of your paintings today incorporate birds and other animals. It sounds like you’ve always had an affinity for the natural world.
Geeta:
Where I grew up, with the divine prakriti, which means the mother nature surrounding you, it is a way of life in India. And if you see our daily life in India (I don’t know if you’ve been to India or not), but in each household during the early morning there are lots of birds that come to visit you and you feed them. Then, around nine or ten o’clock, the dog knows that it’s time for my brother to go to work so the first roti (bread) goes to the dog. The cow comes around noon. Around 4:00 in the afternoon on our roof, you can hear the peacock waiting for you to give it grains.
So, we grew up with this mutual understanding, and that took a very special place in my heart for years. That is what I think is coming through in my paintings.
I grew up with lots of beautiful birds, but the parrot, peacock, and sparrow were everyday visitors. Also, there were many dogs and cows. And so, it was like an unspoken friendship.
The parrots have been my favorite birds from a very young age. I always admired the way they fly. They encourage us to aim high and realize our goal despite the challenges we might face as we chase those dreams. Birds are symbols of freedom – the freedom of knowing that despite the harshness of life around you, you can take a risk and do what you think is best for your life. And, despite the hard work, you can enjoy life with surprises, sweetness, and miracles.
I moved to the United States not knowing English. I knew basic English, but speaking fluently was out of the question. However, God always has a plan for each of us, and I learned English from a very wonderful lady who cared for me very much. So, it was a journey for me to go through all this and also prove myself as an artist, and I did it… so, birds have always been an inspiration to me.
When I won that wildlife award in 10th grade, I got to meet Dr. Salim Ali, who wrote many books on birds. He was called the Birdman of India. He gave me one of his books, Book of Indian Birds, and I studied and studied that book to learn all I could about new species.
And so, when I came to the US, I used my platform to help my students understand how important wildlife is and how important it is to save what we can. I feel that every day we are losing some species of bird or other animal. I want to send a message to all people that every life has a right to live and we should respect that and honor their lives, too.
NPN:
You moved to America when you were 28 years old. What was that like?
Geeta:
Slowly, I began working on more contemporary pieces. But still, I didn’t lose my subject matter and kept a touch of Indian art which was always prakriti. Sanskrit roots say prakriti refers to the feminine aspect of all life forms and, more specifically, woman is seen as a symbol of prakriti. I like to symbolize prakriti as a woman in my paintings.
I want to let people know how we are connected to mother nature and what a valuable, peaceful life it gives us, you know? So, over time I experimented with different media which you can see in my style, but I never lost my root subject.
I am an Indian American artist and I always integrate my culture and traditional Indian art into my work. That is the journey I have been on, and I think I am going in the right direction.
There was a time when I couldn’t do much work because my children were young. But then in 2018, I won the Scholastic Art and Writing Golden Residency Award, by Sam and Adele Golden Foundation, an artist residency in upstate New York. They gave us an opportunity to exhibit at The Painting Center in New York City.
That was a big change in my life. It was eye opening for me to start what I like most – painting. I gained strength and pride being an artist.
At the Golden Residency they provided us with everything more than we might need. We took advantage of that and created so much artwork. I basically got lost in creating art. It was unbelievable. And, I started building more confidence. Then I was awarded the Michael Crespo Visual Artist Fellowship Award, Cary Saurage, Baton Rouge Arts Council and Ford Foundation’s National Performance Network Take Notice Fund grant.
Before that time, I did many murals for clients. I focused more on those than on my own paintings. I did a mural for Louisiana Tourism and others. It was quite a challenge, and it was fun.
I think the last mural I did was on a leftover four ft. by eight ft. panel. I decided I was going to make a mural for myself that I could exhibit somewhere.
I started drawing birds but somehow didn’t like it. So I cut the birds out of the wood and made it look like they are coming out from the wood. So, I won 1st place award for that painting, The Wild, at the LSU School of Art Summer Contemporary art exhibition, and another award for the same painting at the Annual International Exhibition “Surreal Salon.” Then I felt I had found something great. So I started doing more experiments cutting wood.
Another wonderful opportunity came my way when a curator at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art asked me to do an exhibition by myself. And after the residency in upstate New York, that was a great opportunity for me to represent my own creations.
NPN:
Nature has clearly been a big influence in your life. What else inspires or excites you?
Geeta:
Outside of work I’m a hiker and love to travel and explore countries around the world. I love hiking through all the national parks. I truly love it. I introduced hiking to both my sons when they were growing up. Now they are also big hikers.
And also I love waterfalls. Victoria Falls is one of the wonders of the world. And my favorite place in the United States to go is the Smoky Mountains. I love nature. I love hiking. My husband doesn’t hike but he is a huge supporter. So when we are traveling, I go and hike by myself.
NPN:
Do you take your sketchbook with you or do you just kind of absorb it and enjoy it?
Geeta:
No, I don’t have time to do sketches, but I take lots of photos, especially closeups such as rock formations. They are amazing. I think treasure is there. You know, you never can go wrong with any national park. They’re so beautiful.
NPN:
Is there anything else you want people to know about your work?
Geeta:
I want them to respect diversity. That is the challenge. It’s not easy when everybody’s working in abstract art and here I am still practicing a mixture of traditional art with contemporary.
Now I think I have that command over my work, and I can be a competitive artist. But, I don’t want to lose my culture. I don’t want to lose my Indian touch. My question is how can I incorporate it and come up with an idea that everyone will understand. That is a wonderful, but challenging, opportunity.
So that is the world I am going toward more and more, and every day I’m like a student. Every day I improve myself, you know.
About Geeta Dave
Inspired by my heritage and the natural beauty of India, I always paint symbols with a full range of narrative expressions that come from the world of nature. I enjoy working on large projects with passion, intense colors, and swirling forms to reveal the hidden animals and the sacredness of all life.
My paintings reflect my childhood. From a young age I had a special relationship with nature and its elements that stayed with me all my life. Like every middle-class household I had a simple life, and my friends were parrots, peacocks, and other birds and animals. That unspoken friendship was my little world.
At a very young age I got the international World Wildlife award for my painting. After I finished my master’s degree in creative painting, I had the opportunity to work on several murals in India, including one at the Gandhi Museum. I have been working as an artist and an art educator in the US for 34 years creating public art and teaching young minds.
Throughout my life, I have done many cultural art projects, participated in national and international art exhibitions, and have received national and international honors and awards for my work.
I love experimenting with different media, different techniques, and new ideas. I am always on a quest for new experiments. As a painter and muralist, I enjoy colors and when I paint a large project it is a celebration of colors for me and as a result, I have many public art installations around the Louisiana community.
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