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Career Overview
Chanani worked at non-profit organizations before entering the comics field. Chanani runs an online Illustration series and store titled EveryDayArt.com, with which she tries to capture the relevance for "ordinary everyday moments in our daily lives". Her graphic first novel, Pashmina, was released by First Second Books in October 2017. 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, Paramount Pictures and Disney. Other than her novel, Chanani has Illustrated Misty: the Proud Cloudby Hugh Howey. Chanani has also been commissioned by Dark Horse Comics for a graphic novel based on Walt Disney Animation Studios' 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 and was released in October of 2018. Chanani has also written and Illustrated a blilingual children book titled Shubh Ratri 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" is slated for 2020 release. She is also the illustrator for the book I will be Fierceby Bea Birdsong, the pen name of Cailin McCarthy Garfunkel, to be released in 2019 by Macmillan Publishers. Chanani, according to her own interviews, is deeply influenced by the author Gene Luen Yang.

Throughout her work Chanani has worked to represent normal problems that exist within the family household 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 of the two mediums.

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 drawn inspiration from her mother's story of immigrating to the United States from India as a single mother and the struggles that were associated with it. This inspiration as well as how they have shaped her developed her own character and voice have influenced common themes in much of her work, including Pashmina.

Chanani has never had a direct mentor in her work but has been influenced throughout her career by the Indian novelist, Arundhati Roy. Roy influenced Chanani in her ability to incorporate political underpinnings in the voices of the characters throughout her novels and related work. Similar to Roy, Chanani has made a central element of her writing and graphic work representing Indian people and the everyday struggles that they encounter.

Chanani is an instructor at the California College of the Arts. She often features local Bay area back drops, as well as images derived from her Indian heritage. She explains, "I grew up watching Bollywood 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
Chanani's work with Disney to publish Disney's Princess: Jasmine's New Pet reflected Disney's departure for a long history of showcasing primarily West Coast Culture. This partnership has broadened Disney's representation of cultures and evolution of inclusion within the brand. Chanani has also worked to explore the expand the representation of colored women and people of color addressing political issues like feminism and battling the patriarchy with her platform. She has also used her platform to advocate for diversity in literature and story-telling more generally.

Pashmina received the 2017 Virginia Library Association Graphic Award Diversity Award in Youth Category, and the 2018 South Asia book Award for Children's Literature in Grade 3-6 category. Pashima was also selected as a Best Fiction for Older Readers of 2017 by the Chicago Public Library. It was eventually released by HarperCollinsIn India.

In April 2012, Nidhi was honored at the White House as a Champion of Change.

Technique and materials
Chanani creates her art using digital media, wood burning, and watercolors. She notes what she uses for tools, "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 explores using magical realism in her work to tell her stories. Specifically in Pashmina she tells the immigrant tale by exploring with color (only using color in the portions of the story that take place in India) and uses Indian gods and metaphorical events and characters to root the story itself in the realistic story of self-discovery. This style of magical realism is demonstrated in the talking animals and conversations with gods within he realm of a narrative that is rooted in reality and goals that the protagonist has this is grounded by her real-life experiences.

Awards

 * 2012 White House Champion of Change
 * 2017 Virginia Library AssociationGraphic 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 with their daughter.