People find a passion in the arts from a variety of different places. For Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan, it came after 19 years as a chip design electrical engineer.
“I feel like I’m a very creative person, because engineers are very creative problem solvers, and I feel that’s what I do in my art practice,” she said.
Gopalakrishnan is an Irvine-based oil painter, and she is displaying her work at Newport Beach’s 20th Annual Art in the Park on Saturday, Sept. 20.
An immigrant from India, Sangeetha came to the United States in 2007 to pursue her career in engineering. Even as a child, she had a passion for math and problem solving. However, that way of thinking does not differ that much from how an approach to art, Gopalakrishnan said, and alongside her love for engineering, the lush south Indian landscape sparked within her a devotion for the outdoors — one that would, decades later, transition into her art.
“I try to solve these problems and capture things,” Gopalakrishnan said. “I feel like I had that in me. My upbringing in India, I was a free spirit. I was allowed to just create things and do things on my own.”
In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Gopalakrishnan had a calling. She always loved the outdoors, hiking and backpacking across California and the surrounding states. She founded and still leads the OC Women’s Outdoors and Wilderness Group, a community that empowers women to explore nature with confidence. With that as a starting point, Gopalakrishnan began painting landscapes of the outdoors, and by 2022, she was picking up the brush daily. Two years later, she stepped away from engineering, dedicating herself to her art.
Today, Gopalakrishnan often carries a painting kit alongside her backpacking gear on the trails, in case a stunning sunset or perfect tree comes into view. Her work is rooted in the California landscapes she knows intimately, but her collection includes a full range of the American outdoors, from coastal cliffs and alpine lakes to desert canyons.
“I definitely do a lot of local hikes and paint here, but my favorite places are in the Sierra Nevada mountains,” Gopalakrishnan said. “That’s where I backpack the most. I go every season to backpack there. I love the desert. I go to Utah quite a bit to paint. I love Northern California, the redwoods and the coastal forests. Everywhere I can hike and get into the wilderness, I go.”
Gopalakrishnan’s care for the outdoors extends beyond capturing it on a canvas. Most oil painters use some type of chemical or solvent, such as turpentine, as a thinner, reducing the oil’s viscosity. Gopalakrishnan, however, does not.
“I figured out my own way of using it,” Gopalakrishnan. “I just use oil paint as is. I don’t use any medium, just linseed oil, if I need to thin it down. I love how thick you can paint.”
As such, every piece of Gopalakrishnan’s art is created with non-toxic, eco-friendly materials. She is a California Green Business Certified artist for her sustainable creation process, a title she is proud of.
“If you walk into my studio, I can breathe knowing that there’s nothing toxic in there,” Gopalakrishnan said. “If I accidentally lick something, I know I won’t die. I think those things are important for me as an artist, for collectors who get my art and also for the land.”
Learn more about Gopalakrishnan’s work at sangeethag.com.
Gopalakrishnan’s art will be on display at Newport Beach’s 20th Annual Art in the Park, held on Sept. 20 at the Civic Center. Learn more about the event at newportbeachartsfoundation.org/Art-in-the-Park.html.
