Born on 30 January 1957, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Ramalingam Muthukrishnan is an established painter and printmaker His ability to paint his imagination onto his canvases despite his hearing disability and weak eyesight is truly remarkable and inspiring Ramalingam completed his BFA in Painting from Government College of Arts in 1980 His works are influenced by nature, women, daily life, Indian culture, and various scenes witnessed by him

The artist has a considerable achievement to his credit including an artist-in-residence scholarship at Vermont Studio Center as well as residencies in Great Britain, the USA, Brazil, France, and Spain The artist has also taught painting and printmaking to the students of Gallaudet University He exhibited his paintings across the world in countries including the UK, USA, Brazil, Spain, France, South Korea, Japan, Poland, Russia, and Tanzania 

He has received numerous awards including a Junior and Senior Fellowship under the Department of Culture, Government of India; Commonwealth Foundation, UK; British Council Visitorship, UK; Indian Council for Cultural Relations, India; Charles Wallace Trust, UK; Pollock – Krasner Foundation, New York, USA; UNESCO/Aschberg Bursary, France Japan Foundation, Kalaichemmal Award, Government of Tamil Nadu, India; Lalit Kala Akademi, India and DEPwD, Government of India (Travel Grant)