About
Amruta Patil (born April 19, 1979) is a writer and artist. She made her debut in 2008 with Kari (HarperCollins) and is currently working on Adi Parva, a graphic novel based on the mytho-historical epic, the Mahabharat.
Style and Influences
Amruta, who identifies primarily as a writer, has a freewheeling visual style that spans charcoal illustration, acrylic painting, collage and manually-retouched photos. Panels frequently contain nods of acknowledgement to her literary and artistic heroes. Recurring themes in her work include memento mori, sexuality, myth, sustainable living, and the unbroken thread of stories passed down from storyteller to storyteller through the ages.
Amruta acknowledges an ongoing love affair with Mahayana Buddhist imagery, Mughal miniatures, Egyptian funerary art, medieval European iconic art. Enduring literary influences include Vedic/Puraanic lore; The Bible; Galeano’s Mirrors; Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince, Trungpa’s Shambhala; and C. Barks’ translation of Rumi’s verse.
Short-format graphic storytelling
In 2009, Amruta was selected for the artist-in-residence programme at La Maison des Auteurs (Angoulême, France). This incubation period marked the beginning of her experimentation with style, medium, and narrative technique – much of which she tests in the short graphic story format. You can see some of this work here.
Mindfields
Amruta is the co-founder and co-editor of Mindfields – a quarterly print magazine about alternative education.
