Perched is a simple animal study I did of a Red-Billed Leothrix perched on a branch. The Red Billed Leothrix is a bird native to the Himalayan area, and I have fond memories of the bright birds’ chirping from when I went hiking in that mountain range. I used soft pastels for the entire piece, and it’s of A3 size- 29.7*42 cm.

Perched

Ticking is a poster I created about pollution and over- industrialization. I wanted to keep it minimalist and make the message clear, so I used clean, simple lines, kept the background plain and used a short phrase that encapsulates what I feel about our window to clean up the Earth- that Time is Ticking, and we’re losing our opportunity to save the Earth for future generations. The poster is meant as a warning, and to incite active change for measures against pollution.

Ticking

This is a simple observational piece of objects in my kitchen I did in graphite pencils and black color pencil for the darker sections.

Still Life (graphite)

As a child, one of my favorite stories was Red Riding Hood. I hoped to capture the magic of what enticed me in this piece- Red Riding Hood's bright cape set against the gorgeous forest, little animals twittering all around, with the sinister wolf lurking at the bottom adding a little bit of grey darkness (literally and figuratively) to the scene.

Red Riding Hood

Fortune Boxes is a piece inspired by a conversation my psychology teacher and I had about fate and beliefs in class. The concept behind the piece is a box made of tarot cards that may be able to predict futures- I used Matt Hughes’s Ethereal Tarot Visions set as a reference. There are four brightly colored boxes set against a dark, empty backdrop, which makes you want to open them; two are partially ajar, daring you to take a closer look and perhaps discover your fate.

Fortune Boxes

Art is one of my daily activities. I’ve cultivated it as a hobby for a long time, and ever since I started making a portfolio, there are almost always art materials and half finished pieces on my desk. My Desk is thus an observational piece I created midway through finishing another artwork, capturing what my desk looks like during the process of creation- my art supplies, the ever-present coffee mug, my headphones for music and my laptop for reference images.

My Desk

As a story lover, I have always been interested in mythology. Indra’s Penance is a glass painting depicting a popular Indian myth- the God of Gods, Indra, after committing a sin, is forced to hide underwater from his brethren while an evil demon takes over his kingdom. It’s a story that has always stuck with me- how even the Gods are not absolved of their sins, and they must perform penance to atone for their wrongdoings. In the story, the pivotal focus is Indra hiding in a lotus stem until his subjects beg him to come back, which I painted here on a square glass sheet 30*30 cm.

Indra's Penance

Bibliophile is a knife painting I created using acrylic on canvas. I wanted to represent one of my favourite hobbies, the best way to spend time- with coffee and long books. Painting my habit of reading helped me combine two of my passions- art and stories.

Knife Painting

I’ve been learning the violin since 2013. It is one of the most intrinsic parts of my personality, something I cannot live without. Rhapsody is a self portrait I created attempting to capture the different emotions I experience when I play. I don’t often express my emotions on my face, so I kept my face serene while the background is bright and awash with color- red for the deeper emotions, black for the intense sadness in some songs, yellow for my happiness. I painted myself a little older and in a gown, because that’s the person I aspire to be, and the person I hope emerges when I play the violin. The piece is 2* 1.5 feet.

Rhapsody

Tiruvila is a Tamil word that means festival. It is a depiction of the quintessential pooja. South Indian culture is extremely specific when it comes to worshipping the gods. No matter the pooja, the items used for worship are the same even if the prayers chanted are different. A typical pooja includes items like utensils, flowers, food and fruit. I created Tiruvila as an observational work during the festival Ganesh Chaturthi, one of the most sacred festivals for people in the state of Karnataka.

Tiruvila

This visual piece is built from a database of serial killers and their victims. The piece reminds everyone that behind the stories of these serial killers, is an endless count of real people whose lives are torn apart by particularly cruel acts of violence.

Snakes In Our House

Shanaya is a Kannada name that means First Ray of the Sun. When I created this piece, I was very interested in pop art, specifically pop art faces as they have a certain characterisation that I tried to capture in this work. I made this piece on November 1st, when my home state (Karnataka) celebrates its official recognition as a state of India, so the colors (red and yellow) are inspired by the Kannada flag. Shanaya is my imagining of Karnataka as a woman, and the background is reminiscent of Sun’s rays, representing her divinity. It’s a square work of 2048*2048 px.

Shanaya

Spiralling is a short clip I made for World Mental Health Day. I used to have a lot of negative thoughts and feelings which would keep cycling through my brain, and I wanted to show how it felt to live inside my brain sometimes- how even a really simple task like finishing homework could be difficult. I wanted the clip to have a rather raw, unfinished look, which is why I made it with basic pencil strokes, minimal shading and I didn’t include any color until the spiral hit its peak.

Spiraling

Kaleidoscope is the first piece I made for VIS 142 using Pygame on Python.

Kaleidoscope

When COVID-19 began to affect the daily lives of people, Indian railway communication lines really suffered as they were not able to cope with the required protocols to maintain the railways.  So many people lost their only means of travel, and thousands of jobs across India were lost in the process. I wanted this postcard to signify how COVID affected the number of people using railways. For the piece, I used watercolors , in a muted palette- light and dark grey, different shades of blue, red and viridian green for the windows- because I wanted the tone to be slightly melancholic, contrasted by the brightness of the sky outside the station. The inside of the train is also warm and inviting, enticing the figure to step inside and travel.