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

Rashmi, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

The person who propelled me into pursuing my creative career is my mentor and now dear friend. An excellent architect and true entrepreneur, they played a pivotal role in the career choices I made, and were the best boss I ever had. In my third year of university, I interned at their architecture studio. Through the months I learnt under their supervision, they taught me what it meant to listen to my heart, to make really good work, to focus on the details. They taught me so much about looking at life from all sides, and how that’s what inspires all creative work. Before I finished my internship, my boss asked me if I really truly wanted to pursue Architecture, which I was studying at that point. And I told them just how much I wanted to be an artist, which is where my heart was at. They immediately encouraged me to follow my calling and make good work. They’ve also continued to support me through the years and have enabled my career in ways I can not put to words.

I can still hear them say, please be kind to your work. Make it from a place of love.

Great mentors are the golden ticket. Find them fast, keep them close.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Rashmi Tyagi. I’m a South-Asian visual artist, illustrator and graphic designer. A maker at heart, I was born and raised in India and now live and work out of my cabin studio in “Vancouver”, Canada.

My creative journey started with a university degree in Architecture that opened up the world of design and art for me. Prior to that, I hadn’t considered pursuing a creative career though I was in constant awe of trailblazers who made things out of nothing. Growing up, I didn’t even know that such a thing as a career in Illustration existed, because it’s such a niche field.

My fascination and love for illustration particularly began during my third year in university, when I stumbled on the work of artists like Oliver Jeffers, Lisa Congdon and Wendy MacNaughton. I was completely fascinated by what they had done, their journey and the statements they were making through their work. What moved me more was that it wasn’t exactly fine art, nor was it entirely graphic design. It was this in-between space that I loved. Similar to architecture, which encompasses a multitude of subjects, involves a lot of research and requires a deep knowledge of various things, Illustration felt like an umbrella for the many interests I carried. I would spend hours scourging the internet for illustrators and go through their entire body of work, their histories, their day to day life. Since I didn’t have any creative around me, spending time doing this was very important as it made me secure in knowing that I can pursue a creative career.

Soon after graduating, I decided to pursue a career in design and illustration. I worked as a graphic designer during the day and taught myself how illustrate in whatever spare time I had. I took courses, watched talks and learnt techniques through material found in books and online. For any self taught visual artist, the internet is a gold mine and there is nothing one cannot learn on it. In 2018, I started working independently with brands big and small to help create visuals. My work has been used for branding, surface pattern design, editorial illustrations and product packaging. In the past, I have been commissioned by clients like The Washington Post, Vancouver Mural Fest, JOYN, Chicago Crain and Lenskart.

Through the years I have continued to evolve as an artist, and developed a unique style for personal body of work. My immense love of nature and my rich cultural heritage inspires my practice. Colour plays a pivotal role in how I make imagery and I often draw from the memories of my childhood. I like working with different mediums, ranging from digital art and installation to traditional painting, and recently have been dabbling in Lino printmaking. Migrating to Canada, embracing my role as a woman of colour and spirituality has brought a fundamental shift to my practice.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to bring forth beauty that is brave. Beauty that is rooted in freedom. Beauty from where true peace and self worth spring.

I started making art out of a yearning to heal my inner child and I hope my work can inspire healing in others too. The more I practice, the more I recognize how creativity is just another face of the spiritual spectrum. And my intention, whether it’s a commercial project or a personal series I’m exploring, is to grow spiritually through it while serving my clients the best I can. Exploring this intersection and being able to express myself has always driven my journey.

I’m in constant awe of women who have raised me, and shaped who I am. From the women of my family, to my fiercely talented sisterhood, and to all the women of this world who have taught me ways of warmth, laughter and generosity. Telling the stories of women is central to my creativity. Celebrating their bravery and beauty, as often reflected in my personal work, is how I show gratitude for all they have done for me. My goal is to create safe spaces for women to gather, explore their creativity and thrive as human beings. And maybe have some chai while we’re at it.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Part of the dance of being an artist is to juggle many tasks, roles, opportunity to make a living. I’ve worked relentlessly to afford an independent studio career and like most pursuits, it’s been a lot of hustle. Most of the actual struggle is never shared. What has helped sustain my journey is not romanticizing my job too much. When we romanticize creative life beyond an extent, we steal from what it really is at the end of the day: a job that enables people to make a living much like any other career. You have to show up for it everyday no matter what. Dropping the curtain on the drama of it, actually helps people across other fields to treat artists without all the preconceived stereotypes that come along with being one. You know the standard, “I bet you stay up all night because you don’t really have to get to work in the morning” OR “Art is a great hobby but when are you going to get a job” OR “Does your work even pay – I’ve heard artists don’t make much” OR “Oh what I mean to say is you don’t really have a job, job” OR “I bet their family invested in them that’s why they are able to do this” OR my favourite one that makes my eyes roll, “Must be nice to do whatever you want, whenever you want because you’re such a free spirit”

We never subject an engineer or a doctor any of these debilitating assumptions, then why creatives?

Creative people are great absorbers of what they experience. And stereotypes like these when used over and over for them, are like an undercurrent. A river that always flows beneath all of their creativity. This can and has drastically impacted many artist’s ability to create their best work. As a people, we have to create a safer environment for creatives where they are not internalizing negative assumptions or in the least, continually being subjected to it. I know creatives, including myself, who’ve been crippled with low self esteem because our society doesn’t consider their pursuits as an actual career. In my view, taking creative people seriously is a collective change we have to make if we want to empower them. Also it’s just good manners to learn, educate and ask the right kind of questions if you’re curious about someone’s career.

One of the other ways to break this vicious cycle is to actually employ creatives! The truth is, enabling and encouraging artists is only half the battle won. But the other more important half is creating accessible and equitable opportunities for them to make a living off the work they do. This might come as a shock to some but people in the creative fields also have rent to pay, food to put on the table and children to raise. I feel like we forget that A LOT as a society. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have been asked to work for exposure or not been paid fairly or been turned down because I asked for my work’s worth. All my creative friends, at some point or the other, have struggled to make ends meet, held multiple jobs and battled serious insecurities. And then to top it all, be subjected to nonsensical and outdated stereotypes can be soul crushing. They say that to survive as an artist you need to grow a thick skin. But maybe if the society made it easier we wouldn’t have to juggle that as well.

We have to advocate for the talent of others, and then allow them the space to actually nurture that talent. The way to think about a thriving creative ecosystem is to imagine creatives as a group of trapeze swingers. The fabric of society is the trapeze upon which they perform.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rashmityagi.ca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byrashmityagi/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/byrashmityagi/

Image Credits
Mavreen David