Nidhi Chanani (born 1980) is an Indian-American freelance illustrator and artist.
Her debut graphic novel ''
Pashmina
Pashmina (, ) refers to, depending on the source, a term for cashmere wool of the Changthangi cashmere goat,Janet Rizvi: ''Pashmina: The Kashmir Shawl and Beyond''. Marg Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-8185026909. for fine Indian cashmere woolRobert R ...
'' was released by
First Second Books
First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism. It als ...
in October 2017.
Early life
Nidhi Chanani was born in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
, India and moved to
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
when she was four months old.
She received a degree in Literature from the
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...
. She then attended the
Academy of Art University
The Academy of Art University (AAU or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. S ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
for a year and a half before dropping out, feeling "limited by the way art is taught."
Career overview
Chanani worked at non-profit organizations before entering the comics field.
Chanani runs an online webseries and store titled ''EveryDayLoveArt.com'', where she tries to capture the relevance for "ordinary everyday moments in our daily lives".
Chanani explains that ''Pashmina'' is a story of a first-generation girl who is "trying to understand herself".
She worked as a concept artist for the 2011 Australian film, ''Hannah and the Hasbian''. She has also worked with
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
,
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
and
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
.
Other than her novel, Chanani has illustrated ''Misty: the Proud Cloud'' by Hugh Howey.
Chanani has also been commissioned by
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
for a graphic novel based on
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...
' 1992 animated feature ''Aladdin'' titled ''Disney's princess: Jasmine's new pet.''The graphic novel revolves around Jasmine and her pet tiger, Raja's, relationship when they first met. It was released in October 2018. Chanani has written and Illustrated a bilingual children book titled ''Shubh Raatri Dost'' (''Good Night Friend'') with Bharat babies.
Her second graphic novel, ''Jukebox'', was a collaboration with her husband Nick Giordano about two Muslim American cousins, Shaheen and Tannaz in San Francisco who find a magical jukebox that comes to their aid when Giovanni, Shaheen's father, goes missing. It is slated for 2020 release.
She illustrated the book ''I will be Fierce'' by Bea Birdsong, to be released in 2019 by
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
.
Throughout her work Chanani has worked to represent normal problems that exist within families, as well as showcasing female characters of color dealing with issues of identity. She utilizes the visual medium of graphic novels and comics to utilize the storytelling through both written and visual mediums in order to portray aspects of her stories that cannot be demonstrated in only one medium.
In March 2019, Netflix announced it will adapt Chanani's best selling graphic novel ''Pashmina'' into a CG animated musical with Gurinder Chadha set to direct
Influences
For ''Pashmina'', Chanani drew inspiration from various sources. According to her "My inspiration for ''Pashmina'' came from a variety of sources: my mom, growing up in the US, my first trip to India, and the choices women make — all of these things are woven into the story. When I was younger my parents would travel to India often. When they returned, their suitcases had a pungent, almost magical smell—from a place that seemed very far away. I was probably 10 years old. Opening their suitcase made me feel close to this other world. In a way, I believe this story has been with me since then."
Chanani has been influenced throughout her career by the Indian novelist,
Arundhati Roy
Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. S ...
.
Roy influenced Chanani in her ability to incorporate political underpinnings in the voices of the characters throughout her work. Similar to Roy, Chanani has made representing Indian people and the everyday struggles that they encounter a central element of her writing and graphic work.
Chanani, according to her own interviews, is deeply influenced by the author
Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang (Chinese Traditional: 楊謹倫, Simplified: 杨谨伦, Pinyin: ''Yáng Jǐnlún''; born August 9, 1973) is an American cartoonist. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions a ...
.
Chanani is an instructor at the
California College of the Arts
California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996 it opened a second campus in San ...
.
She often features local Bay area backdrops, as well as images derived from her Indian heritage. She explains, "I grew up watching
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
films on the weekends, eating Indian breakfasts, and spending time with my Indian family. It didn't ever feel like because I didn't live in India, India didn't live in me. Even if I don't draw something Indian per se, something about my "Indian-ness" will come through whether I make the characters brown or pick a setting reminiscent of India. There is something about who I am in everything that I do. And who I am is Indian. I don't think that is ever removable from what I do."
Cultural significance and reception
''Pashmina'' received the 2017
Virginia Library Association
The Virginia Library Association (VLA) is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is "to develop, promote, and improve library and information services, library staff, and the profession of librarianship in order to advance literacy and learning a ...
Graphic Diversity Award in the Youth Category, and the 2018 South Asia Book Award for Children's Literature in the Grade 3-6 category.
Pashmina was also a Best Fiction for Older Readers selection for 2017 by the
Chicago Public Library
The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the ...
.
It was eventually released by
Harper Collins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...
in India.
In April 2012, Nidhi was honored at the White House as a Champion of Change.
[Chanani, Nidhi (April 5, 2012)]
"Creating Connections and Inspiring People Begins and Ends with a Story"
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
.
Technique and materials
Chanani creates her art using digital media, wood burning, and watercolors, stating: "For my illustrations I use flash and Photoshop with a heavy dose of brushes and textures I've created. For my wood burnings I use raw wood and a professional wood burning pen."
Chanani also uses
magical realism
Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to:
* Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse
* "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr
* '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...
in her work to tell her stories; within a narrative that is otherwise rooted in reality, she employs talking animals and conversations with gods.
Awards
* 2012 White House Champion of Change
* 2017
Virginia Library Association
The Virginia Library Association (VLA) is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is "to develop, promote, and improve library and information services, library staff, and the profession of librarianship in order to advance literacy and learning a ...
Graphic novel Diversity Award in youth category
* 2018 South Asia Book Award Honor (Grade 3-6)
Personal life
Chanani and her husband, Nick Giordano, live in
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
with their daughter.
References
External links
*
*
"Articles by Nidhi Chanani"''India Currents''
*Chanani, Nidhi (2015)
"Pashmina" Diversity in YA.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanani, Nidhi
Indian emigrants to the United States
1975 births
Living people
American women artists
American female comics artists
University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
Academy of Art University alumni
21st-century American women
Writers from Kolkata