If you wanted to sum up Santa Clara artist Saswatee Chatterjee’s work, it would be with a famous line from the English poet William Blake (1757-1827): “To see the world in a grain of sand.”
Chatterjee wants people to stop and take in the everyday beauty that’s all around us in the smallest things.
“I deal with life and nature, the things that we look at, and most of the time we don’t really see,” said Chatterjee. “I like looking at things up close, enjoying every bit of them.”
Chatterjee’s show, Celebration of Hopes, opened at the Mohr Gallery in Community Center for Music and Arts (CSMA) in Mountain View on Aug. 4 and runs through September 7.
A long-time Santa Clara resident, Chatterjee’s artistic journey began when she was a small child.
“I started going to art school at a very young age. I started doing it and loving it, even at that young age,” said Chatterjee.
Chatterjee went on to study art pedagogy and graphic design. For more than a decade, she’s been a CSMA instructor, at the same time teaching art at a local elementary school. She also conducts workshops locally, including at Santa Clara’s Triton Museum, which she says is “a beautiful space” and “a fascinating museum.”
Chatterjee is deeply committed to fostering imagination and creativity in her students.
“We need our human imagination, that’s why we are human,” she said. “I want to always make students excited by creativity. My job is bringing out the enthusiasm and imagination, creatively, in those young students.”
In her work, Chatterjee aims for an emotional and healing connection to nature. In her paintings, instead of grand landscapes, she invites people to take a breath and focus on the beauty in miniature: the light on flowers, a single bird, an apple. Her work invites viewers to slow down, notice the world around them and let it speak to them.
“When I’m dealing with a subject, I have a feeling I’m trying to capture,” she said. “Maybe it’s a sunset that is super bright, and I’m looking at the reflection on the flowers. I’m just trying to catch those small things on those flowers where the bright light is falling. I use my brush strokes to convey feelings. And if the viewer is able to get a little bit of it, I feel like I’m successful.
“Art is something that I cannot separate myself from,” Chatterjee continued. “It makes my life fulfilling, and so I believe it does for everyone,” adding, “For our existence, we need to keep creating.”
Saswatee Chatterjee’s show, Celebration of Hopes, runs through Sept. 7, 2025 at the Mohr Gallery in the Finn Center at the CSMA, 230 San Antonio Circle in Mountain View. Hours are Mon-Fri: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sat. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Carolyn Schuk can be reached at carolyn@santaclaraweekly.com.
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