Shalini Sivaram is a contemporary realist painter following the European School of Classical style. She was born in Kottayam, a serene town of lakes and backwaters in the state of Kerala, India. Growing up in a place that is one of the eight hotspots of biological diversity, her love of nature grew tremendously which is reflecting in her paintings and photography.
Shalini's passion for art began when she was three years old. Her father was a prominent artist and her first teacher. She spent considerable time in his studio observing him at work and slowly started replicating them, mostly portraits. As a teenager, Shalini felt being an artist was not the right choice of career.
She earned a dual Bachelor's in Law from India and worked as a lawyer for a few years under the Bar Council of Cochin. In her late 20's, she moved to Cyprus and worked as a Supervisor and trainer for Dessange Paris. Later, she moved to the United States of America to continue her academic goals. She has been working as a Social Media and Marketing Coordinator for a renowned non-profit organization in Chicago, Illinois.
As a native of India, her colorful paintings pay homage to the expression of people's inner self irrespective of time and space as the sayings go, "World is one family," "Time is an Illusion," and "Thou art that." Her distinctive personal style captures the minute mysterious expressions of her muses that are only known to their hearts and mirrors and unrevealed to others. Her paintings are brought to life with contrasting and harmonious colors and bold compositions. Apart from oil paintings, she also creates her artworks using charcoal and graphite.