Exhibition showcases internationally renowned artist

Now through December, patrons at Ithaca’s Agava restaurant will be surrounded by colorful, abstract paintings by Ivy Stevens-Gupta, a local and internationally awarded artist, as part of her solo exhibition “Over the Edge: Colorful Abstractions.”

The exhibition opened Aug. 24 and includes seven large paintings in Stevens-Gupta’s signature style, with the paintings extending over the edge of the canvas to create a 3D look and feel. For Stevens-Gupta, the exhibition was a long time coming and a welcome chance to have people see her art in person.

The exhibition is just the most recent display of Stevens-Gupta’s long-held passion for art, she explained.

“I can remember creating art as early as age 3 with my grandmother,” she said. “Back then, I would try very hard to stay in the lines. And then, as I grew up, I guess I was leaning more towards abstract, so now, my paintings are anything but staying in the lines.”

Stevens-Gupta, while having an early interest in art, didn’t follow a direct path to her now full-time career as an artist. She graduated from Alfred University, first studying art but later switching to pursue business, earning her bachelor’s in marketing, a masters in liberal studies and a certificate in interior design. She also worked as the advertising manager for Gannett Newspaper Division and the corporate relations director for the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University.

She explained why she pivoted into business over her original pursuits.

“I knew that I loved art, and I knew that I loved playing soccer. So, I was doing both,” she said. “But I quickly learned that I wasn’t really learning as quickly as I wanted a skill that would land me a job. And that was my goal. So, I switched and I thought business would be much more practical. And it was for the longest time.”

Indeed, Stevens-Gupta’s decision proved a successful one, leading her to careers that helped her raise her two kids mostly by herself. But all throughout that portion of her life, she had no chance to explore and express her creativity, leading her art to fall by the wayside. That changed when she started pursuing her master’s degree.

“When I was the director for corporate relations at Johnson, it was very stressful, time-consuming,” she said. “They just took a lot of my time out of me and attention, and I thought, ‘I want to start doing something that brings me joy, something that is more healing.’ And so, we had a part of our house converted into a studio for me. I have been doing the Greater Ithaca Art Trail ever since.”

It wasn’t an easy switch, as Stevens-Gupta struggled at first to get her work out there and recognized. Complicating it further was how marketing one’s art has shifted over the years, requiring her to use social media to get her work out there.

Stevens-Gupta’s work paid off. Now, she is a full-time artist and certified color therapist, and she’s received two international awards for her art. She sells 50 paintings per year on average and teaches workshops on color therapy, color theory, painting and marketing via Zoom and in person, socially distanced. Her paintings can be found in homes and offices all over the world and have appeared in several books on international contemporary artists, according to a recent press release.

Just as Stevens-Gupta evolved over the years, so too did her style. She started out in a photorealistic style but later moved more toward abstract art. Despite the shift, Stevens-Gupta continues to portray photorealism, with her pieces displaying a broad range of styles that sometimes blend realism with abstraction.

“I think a lot of people really react positively to those because some people don’t understand abstract art and totally want horses to look like a horse,” she said. “But then, there are a great number of people who can identify with the abstraction if there’s a tiny bit of representation kind of mixed in.”

Most of Stevens-Gupta’s inspiration comes from nature, she said, and her art, as a result, is an advocate for the beauty and preservation of nature.

“I want to be a climate change activist,” she said. “I use my art to build awareness for global warming. I go for hikes all the time. I love the water, and a lot of those visuals that I get from those experiences are carried forth into my artwork, and I try to duplicate what it is I see outside and bring it inside.”

And a common thread among all her pieces is a strong emphasis on color.

“For me, color is a huge inspiration,” she said. “And I think for me, that kind of brings me the most joy, just doing huge pieces of art that are totally expressive that I don’t have to conform to anything. I can just be loose and emotional and just to kind of see what happens.”

That style resonated with a lot of people in her early exhibits and work. She said that when people came to her studio, many would gravitate toward a painting that was primarily in one color or shades of one color. So, Stevens-Gupta started doing some research on the psychological effects of color. Her research and findings eventually led her to become a color therapist.

Unfortunately, Stevens-Gupta’s work was greatly affected by the pandemic. COVID-19 canceled many of her shows, causing her sales to decrease. She shifted to online venues, but it isn’t the same as getting to see her art in person. And her teaching has been affected as well, as she was unable to bring students to her studio.

“Over the Edge” was just the break she needed, though it was an exhibition planned long before the pandemic hit. As Stevens-Gupta explained, she had approached Agava over a year ago about having her work displayed.

“I actually was there having lunch with one of my friends, and we were looking at the paintings,” she said. “They were large and they were abstract, and she goes, ‘You should have your paintings here.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, I’ll ask them. And so, I reached out, and … they go, ‘yeah, we’d love to have your work here.’”

The exhibit was originally scheduled for April but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. But now, her work is on full display, and she’s glad for it. She said she hopes the exhibit will not only help increase sales but also ignite interest in her workshops.

“It’s inevitably to create a connection with someone that results in maybe a painting sale or two or a commission for a painting in the future or teach them how to create their own beautiful art,” she said. “At this point, I’m happy to have my art out there rather than them accumulating in my studio in my house.”

Stevens-Gupta’s Ithaca studio is open by appointment. To view her work online, visit Ivycreativedesigns.com or connect with her on Instagram @Ivystevensgupta.art.