Bala Thiagarajan, Ph. D
Multidisciplinary Artist | Community Builder | Arts Leader
I am an immigrant Indian woman artist working from my studio in Arvada, Colorado. Born and raised in Chennai, India, I came to the U.S. to pursue a PhD in Biology at Kansas State University, earning my doctorate in 2006. After several years in academia, I made the decision to shift careers and become a full-time artist in 2012.
My creative practice sits at the intersection of culture, science, and math. I channel my passion for Indian traditions into artworks that honor both permanence and impermanence. I give lasting form to ephemeral art forms I grew up with—henna body art, kolams, and rangolis—through textured mandala paintings and slip-trailed ceramics. Using piping bags and squeeze bottles, I create raised textures of dots and lines in acrylic paint on canvas, and apply similar techniques in clay through slip-trailing. These meditative, detailed works are grounded in geometry and organic repetition, with a rhythm and luminosity inspired by the vibrant silk and cotton saris worn by women in South India.
My practice also reflects my lived experience navigating visual impairment. I intentionally incorporate texture, creating visual and tactile works that invite audiences to engage beyond sight alone.
Alongside mandalas, I paint portraits of South Asian women, drawing from everyday life and ritual to capture grace, resilience, and power. I often blend traditional Indian folk art motifs—such as Madhubani and Kalighat painting styles—with contemporary portraiture, using textured piping techniques to layer history, identity, and narrative.
In recent years, I’ve expanded into installation art, creating work that explores thresholds, ritual, and duality. One of my recent installations combined a large mandala painting with a rangoli sand reflection on the floor, highlighting the tension between permanence and transience.
Beyond my studio practice, I am deeply committed to community-building and leadership in the arts. I founded the Colorado South Asian Artists group in 2025 to foster connection, increase visibility, and advocate for greater representation of South Asian artists in the Colorado arts ecosystem. Our mission is to be the curators of our own stories—centering narratives from within the culture, rather than through an outsider’s lens. I am also a National Leaders of Color Fellow (2024–2025, Colorado), using my leadership platform to support diversity, equity, and inclusion across arts spaces and help create pathways for underrepresented artists.
More than 900 of my original artworks are in collections across the USA, India, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, Belize, Chile, and Costa Rica.
Interviews
Heart of the West - PBS12 Colorado
Podcast - Bucket List Community Cafe
Love is in the Art - Saint Louis Arts Festival
Imperfect Symmetry - McLean County Arts Center
Dots & Lines - Addison Center for the Arts
Installation
Embrace Mandala Rangoli - Arvada Arts Center
Floor Mandala Painting - Side Street Studio Arts