We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lavanya Challa . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lavanya below.
Lavanya , so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Having become a full time artist after being a stay at home mom for 10 years, with an architect’s degree, it’s safe to say I’ve battled my fair share with the imposter syndrome !! I had all essential conditions to invoke deep seated fears and doubts about what I wanted to do and accomplish. It’s not been an overnight victory over that fear, it’s an ongoing journey keeping that fear at bay. In the beginning, I had to overcome my own fears of painting and then wanting to get validation from others to eventually feeling like an imposter all the time. I was constantly comparing myself to other accomplished artists and people on the internet, in addition to that, I was trying to hide my struggles of being a parent to an autistic child. I always felt I didn’t have the right home to display or invite collectors, or I didn’t have the perfect wardrobe to feel confident at shows , or I didn’t have the courage to talk to new people at these shows, or the right Degree to be an artist, and so on so forth.
The one thing that kept me going is my big WHY, the reason I go back to my studio every single day. I wanted to and still want to, inspire and make people happy with paintings. Creating art makes me come alive. It’s my self expressed beyond words. I set out to overcome each of these concerns that kept me wrestling with the imposter syndrome. In stead of feeling out of place at shows, I started embracing my weirdness and got creative with my outfits, I dressed with something From my culture. That made it fun and took away my focus from the imposter syndrome. With every art show I attended and every artwork is sold I got more and more confident. As I shared more about my challenges with my followers, focused on being authentic rather than perfect and put together, I found many others dealing with similar fears, ultimately it was art that connects us together. I no longer apologize for my shortcomings, I wear them as a badge of honor, and I no longer need validation for my self-worth as an artist!
In conclusion what I’d like to say is that my “BIG WHY” is what got me through it all!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am an abstract expressionist artist. I love to paint with vibrant and bold colors. I’d like to say my brand value is to inspire and leave my audience delighted! I wish to Allow the viewer to fill in the details, so that there are many possibilities of shapes and familiar scenes to find in my paintings, l want my people to walk away with an experience worth remembering, a beautiful colorful afternoon etched in their minds forever. The inspiration for my paintings comes from my everyday experiences and challenges.
I paint from a place of finding balance in chaos, joy in the messy and beauty in the imperfect, much as life unfolds. All of the marks, colors and layers intertwine to tell a story, a story that I hope will inspire joy and happiness.
Working with various mediums, connecting unlikely materials together, piecing together a complex picture. A lot of my work is loose and free flowing, (signature-movement) with energy that seeks to draws the viewer in.
I am currently engrossed in creating some experimental work, and exploring how various mediums interact with each other
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Firstly I’d like to say it takes a lot of COURAGE to put your self out there, be seen, known and judged for your work. When I started I didn’t know anything, it was all new, I was just willing to come back and learn everything on the job.
Second one is SHARING , I found that sharing what I was doing with people in my life, everyone else is very important. I would talk about what I am up to, what I was challenged by and what I am aspiring to accomplish. Especially after a podcast, I’d have a windfall of interest in my work. People love to know more and connect with our reason for doing what we do.
Thirdly ASKING QUESTIONS , I used to looking for answers and discovered early on there is no one size that fits all, you really have to engage, inquire and look to discover what is it that works for you, your brand or your mission!
My advice would be, be curious, be interesting in learning new things and finding out how others did it, After that bring your uniqueness to your journey. It may sound like some one who accomplished it has all the answers, but no one can be you, trust your instincts and passionately enjoy the ride! Nothing is as thrilling as the beginner phase!
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I’d like to mention 2 books here.
First “The artist way” by Julia Cameron.
I love this book. it’s a wholistic book for creatives of any medium. It’s enlightening and deeply encouraging!
My favorite nugget from this book is, Saying yes and thank you to Any tiny opportunity that comes your way, that in turn invites more such opportunities to you. I learnt to have a positive outlook, have a larger context of things and be less judgmental.
The book helps you heal some of your difficult feedbacks on your initial creative work which kinda stays with you and leaves a mark of fear and doubt. There are many more such beautiful nudges to conquer your fears and doubts that hold your creative expression from being unleashed.
The second is “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell.
I had for the longest time believed, that you had to be born with it to be successful and sought after. That view point was completely turned on its head, after reading this book. That you never know what quality or trait will work in your favor. You get to make it your strength. Grit is a very important quality, it never gets any attention in school or in grades or GPAs! But it’s one of the most indispensable quality these days!
And my favorite is putting in the hours! The author talked about various prominent and famous people who achieved success after they put in thousands of hours of work. It gave me a bigger goal to work towards, imagine the quality of your work after you put in that many hours into your practice, it will be amazing!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lavanyachallaart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lavanyachallaart/
- Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/lavanyachallaart/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lavanya-challa-80541482
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lavanyachalla9/
