Exploring Design, Nostalgia, and Collaboration with Sushrita Bhattacharjee
With an impressive roster of notable projects, Sushrita Bhattacharjee belongs to a new generation of designers. She advocates for greater collaboration across different art mediums and embracing emerging technologies. For her, technology is a tool to ethically enhance creativity and continually transform the art world.
At the age of 14, Sushrita took her first step into the industry when a neighbourhood lady asked her to illustrate a book of poems. In exchange, she received a bunch of chocolates—an endearing and wholesome reward that sparked her interest. Eager to see what lay ahead, she started her journey into the creative industry.
How did you first get into the world of art and design, but what made you stay?
I think it wasn’t a single event or film that did it. As a little girl I was enrolled in dance, singing, poetry and art classes all together. Somehow I always liked holding on to my brushes a little more than anything else. We didn’t have cable TV at home so my early source of inspiration was Meena on DD National. And when finally cable came, there were countless enchanting animated shows that I still turn back to, even today. There was always an art activity to do at school, or alpanas to make at home. So when I graduated from school, I knew it was definitely Art that I wanted to pursue.
Which is why you pursued your degree in Animation, Video Graphics and more at St. Xaviers. Tell us more about what was your outlook to creativity in college?
It’s funny, I thought I was super knowledgeable back when I started college. Turns out I knew nothing at all. I was just looking at pictures and redrawing them. The college broke down my process and taught me to actually study. It taught me histories and reasons along with a grasp on technical skills. College taught me how my hands and my brain need to act like a team. I am constantly trying to be better as an artist and a creative and college was the push that I needed.
Although I admit, my college self was much more immature, evaluating myself selfishly on how my art stands against my immediate peers. I used to think that it was a competition, like a spelling bee contest and I had to win. My peers are my source of inspiration now. It’s a healthy environment, especially where I work, where we constantly applaud each other and try to make amazing things happen, together.
Sushrita has since been involved in several remarkable projects. One of them being Zwigato’s end credit sequence, where she worked closely with actress Nandita Das. Another significant achievement is the Perk Disclaimers Advertisement at Ogilvy Mumbai, which won a Cannes Lions Silver award in 2022.
Sushrita's collaborations extend beyond advertising. She partnered with the German Studio Heidelbaer Games, for a card game called Hungry Monkey. This opportunity allowed her to showcase her talent to a global audience.
Most recently, Sushrita took on the role of Lead for VFX and Animation at Post Office Studio, working on Krafton's BGMI Documentary series India Ki Heartbeat in collaboration with Supari Studios. Despite being a departure from her usual projects, she embraced the challenge and found joy in working under the guidance of director Kunal Prabhu.
What inspired you to create your most recent work?
For India Ki Heartbeat it was maintaining a simplicity. I looked at various ways where I could create a harmony of the designs that were being tied to the live action shot.
My latest personal work is the one with the fishes. I have been visiting aquarium shops a lot in the past few months. I used to stop by them a lot when I was young. I guess I am trying to connect with my old self again a little. Back then I only knew goldfish. These days I have been learning more about fishes. I tried to capture a memory here, both recent and past. A happy moment.
Can you share some insights into your creative process?
I take a lot of time to think and work the idea out. It's not always a lightbulb moment. If it's a client project, it's understanding their needs first. If it's personal work, it’s understanding what I want to represent or what I am feeling.
I come up with ideas, and then I let them rest for as long as I can. I come back to see it with fresh eyes. That helps me come up with an idea which becomes timeless- they look good no matter when people see them. It's never perfect but it's as close as I can get it to be. Giving time to the preparation is most important for me. The more you put in your pre-production of a project, the better the end result.
Of course my preparation part is not something that I do alone. I love to talk to people whenever I am working on something and I like their creative opinions on it. We tend to be more attached to what we create so at times it is important to learn to let them go. If it’s a personal project I tend to talk it out with someone very close to me and see if it’s working out.
Sushrita's work often explores themes of childhood, nostalgia, fantasy, and curiosity. Drawing inspiration from Isao Takahata, she employs a warm colour palette that evokes a soft, nostalgic ambiance. Reflecting on her own memories and relationships, she recreates them indirectly through her art, stepping into different characters and imagining alternative storylines. With a penchant for daydreaming, fantasy elements often find their way into her work, adding a touch of whimsy.
How would you describe your style in a sentence?
My work is meant to be laid-back, warm, nostalgic with a bit of fantasy attached to it.
What do you hope audiences feel when experiencing your work?
Everything that I create, I hope it will remain as a memory- of not just the artist but the piece itself. If I am working on a particular art piece, I want it to be remembered later. People have told me that a couple of my personal works have reminded them of their own childhood and that gave me a lot of strength to continue to do what I do.
How do you view the connection between your personal life and your artistic expression?
They are always connected. There was a time when I was very down and not in a state that I wish to go back again and my art reflected that a lot. My art, at that point, was very grungy and very sketchy.
Now it’s warmer and softer because I have evolved as a person and I am at a stage where I am happy. It reflects a little bit of my inner emotions. My colour palette is in the summery zone, like I am revisiting the memories from school summer vacations.
With an impressive roster of notable projects, Sushrita belongs to a new generation of designers. She advocates for greater collaboration across different art mediums and embracing emerging technologies. For her, technology is a tool to ethically enhance creativity and continually transform the art world.
How are you adapting to the recent AI disruptions?
I do not think of AI advancements as disruptions per se. I am aware of the controversy around it, but I keep a more positive attitude towards it. I would call them more of an extension tool to make our work slightly faster, and that’s exactly how I use it. Technology cannot completely take over our creative forces because it depends on us. It’s as simple as that. As long as we use it ethically to enhance our work, we’re good. It is our job as creatives to change the art world constantly and come up with new things to mesmerise the world. I like to think of tech as a mere instrument for our main objective.
As someone who is a new-age designer, you are in a great place to actually adapt to AI. But what would your advice be to the veterans of the industry, who might be too set in their ways?
Embrace them. Incorporate them. Technological advancements are not going away any time soon. So the only way that we move forward is to use them, not abuse them, and see how we can work with it and not against it.
