We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jagriti Khirwar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jagriti, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I want to begin by saying that I am incredibly proud of my parents! They have always been supportive of my siblings and I and our career goals without putting any kind of pressure on us. There is a big stereotype about Indian parents being too pushy when it comes to their kids’ education and it is true in many cases but we have been very fortunate to have parents who have encouraged our dreams without any conditions and done everything in their power to help us realise them. I had initially wanted to become a doctor (typical yes, but it was my own choice) but when I told my parents I wanted to switch to art they were supportive of my decision. Throughout my journey in the art world they have been there for me even if they didn’t quite understand it. I tend to be a nervous wreck but my family seems to have a lot of faith in me and that is a very lovely thing to have. Even though I switched to art I wasn’t sure that I had made the right decision for the longest time. Despite my own confusion my parents never made me feel like I had messed up and allowed me time and space to become comfortable with my choices. While the hard work I have put into my career is my own there is no way I could have done any of it without the support of my parents. Both my parents are very smart and curious people who never really got the opportunity to pursue a higher education but in spite of their limited resources they have worked tirelessly to make sure my siblings and I get everything we need. I also think I get my creativity from my mom. When we were kids she used to sew little frocks for my sister and I and even now she’s always making something for someone or the other. She’s always experimenting in the kitchen as well. She’s a doer and I get my curiosities from her. Whatever little success I have as an artist I owe it to my family and their unwavering support.

Jagriti, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a visual artist based in Los Angeles, California. Originally from India, I moved to Savannah, Georgia to pursue a masters in Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design. As it so happens, a creative journey is not always the most streamlined. When I was coming out of college I initially thought I would be a stop-motion animator but after getting industry experience I realised that it’s not the most reliable in terms of getting consistent work. I decided to make a switch to 2-d animation and found that it was a lot more suitable to my temperament and the whole process is much more doable as an independent artist. This doesn’t mean that I don’t like stop-motion anymore, it is in fact my favourite animation medium. I have just decided to reserve it for my personal projects.

Over the years I have had the good fortune of working with reputed clients such as Adult Swim, Giphy, TED Conferences and TED-Ed to name a few. The TED-Ed lesson about the Partition of India that I co-directed with my partner Raghav Arumugam is one of the projects I am most proud of. Being able to visualise a core part of India’s history which is seldom spoken about in the western world was very rewarding. The video currently has 2.9 million views and a lot of the people in the comments mention that they weren’t aware of this part of Indian history so it feels all the more gratifying.
Currently we are working on another lesson for TED-Ed which I’m very excited about. This lesson is not emotionally heavy and I’m using it as an opportunity to do the most fun and detailed backgrounds ever.

I have also done a lot of illustration work in the last few years, mostly kids edutainment for Amplify Education. The latest project I worked on for them was the Spanish reader called ‘Nos une el maiz’ for Texas schools. It was a lot of fun drawing a vast variety of corn based food for this book. This book teaches young kids about the history of corn and the multitudes of cuisines it has inspired across the world.

Going forward I would love to get into the editorial illustration space as well.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I am from India and we don’t have much original content when it comes to animation. Even though we have one of the world’s biggest film industries, animation as a medium never really took off and I have always felt a big vacuum of unrealized potential that is yet to be filled. The lack of such infrastructure unfortunately means that a lot of talented people have to move out of India to pursue a career or even an education in it. That’s why we don’t get a lot of home grown animation from India. In the recent years this has started to change with a lot of individual projects that crop up but it hasn’t led to consistent development of an animation industry in India. So long story short I would like to be able to tell stories which are unique to the Indian subcontinent and my experience. This is my short term goal. My long term goal is to be able to build a space that fosters creativity and provides funding to independent artists in India.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I am someone who is very detail oriented which is not always a good thing, so when I am in the exploring stage of a project I feel the most alive because I can go in any direction without worrying too much about perfecting the end result. I love doing little experiments and exploring different styles especially when I get to do something traditional. Digital art is great and can save a lot of time but when I get to use traditional media I am at my happiest. It really centres me and I am able to concentrate better.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jagritikhirwar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jagritikhirwar/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jagriti-khirwar-a3255379/