Born in 1973 in Gulbarga, Karnataka, Jyoti Hattarki’s work is an exploration in portraiture. Hattarki employs a figurative discourse in her studies of individuals and couples. Single men, women and amorous couples form the basis of her creations. Her figures are at once type-characters and individuated protagonists, representative of a certain region and yet exclusive personalities bestowed with immortality on canvas.

Hattarki’s acrylics on canvas are a celebration of colour, which she uses dramatically to highlight certain aspects of her figures. The forehead and nose of her characters are generally painted in striking contrast, giving them a signature style and a radical disposition. Hattarki pays great attention to detail, particularly in her renderings of ornaments, turbans and textile motifs.

Jyoti Hattarki completed her Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Gulbarga University in Karnataka, and was awarded the Gold Medal from the University in 1995. In the same year, she participated in the Karnataka Kala Mela in Bangalore and was also a part of the Annual Exhibition of the Karnataka Lalit Kala Akademi, Bangalore, and the 11th All India Art Exhibition, Nagpur, both in 2007. She has held several joint shows with her partner, Shantkumar Hattarki.