Why I Make Art

My whole life, I’ve tried to distance myself from being just an Indian girl, especially growing up in an area very saturated with Indians. I’d always felt like just labeling myself that way was diminishing to everything else I had to offer, but the older and more experienced I grew, the more I realized how integral my culture is to everything about me. I am an Indian, Hindu, queer girl and though those labels do not replace my passionate artistic personality, they undoubtedly enhance it. This is why I am not afraid to say that all of my work, including the work in my portfolio, is infused with imagery and themes responding to my culture.

The most visible example of this is my emphasis on femininity throughout my work. I have always been entranced by raw female divinity which definitely stems from growing up worshiping goddesses on the same level as gods as the personification of power, life, and love. Mythology is a motif that appears frequently in my work, from something as simple as a tiger in a dream to my collection of Earth Goddesses from different religions across the world.

I’ve never been interested in restricting myself to one medium, and I believe that I can stretch and mold the Drawing and Painting major to fit my exploratory creative process. When I create I center everything around concept, theme, and message. As an artist I am constantly trying to find new and better ways to convey my ideas and am not afraid to challenge barriers in order to do this. I am also extremely dedicated to improving my fundamental skills, which is why many of the pieces in my portfolio are studies to help me better understand color, composition, figure, and more elements of design.

While I love expanding my boundaries I know that I can only do that effectively if I am thoroughly versed in drawing and painting. Painting has always been the basis of my pieces, and introducing oil paints to my toolbox with ART250 and my lovely professor only made my inspiration grow more. Overall, making sure I have a good foundation to build my artistic identity on is very important to me and I believe the Drawing and Painting focus will allow me the skills to grow into a powerful artist.