From "Shadow Artist" to Artist

A conversation with Dipa Halder, software engineer turned full-time artist.

I’ve found that every traditionally “productive” field is full of creatives hiding in plain sight. As Julia Cameron says: “very often audacity, not talent, makes one person an artist and another a shadow artist.” I’ve been following Dipa Halder’s journey for a while now, and she’s one of these people that has embodied the rare courage to take the leap.

Before going full-time as an artist in 2023, Dipa spent years as a software engineer at Figma while nurturing an artistic practice, starting with digital illustration and expanding into painting and murals. From her Brooklyn studio, she now creates ethereal, abstract works in acrylics and large-scale murals for companies like TikTok. Her recent "Traversing" series explores carving your own path through uncertainty and reinvention.

I asked Dipa 30 questions spanning everything from her creative process to theories on life. She reflects on transitioning from tech to art, how immigrant family creativity flows through generations, why she lov…