The people we grow up with and our families are the ones who influence our world views. My aunt (mom’s sister) was someone I loved hanging out with on our family trips to India; we would make jokes, laugh and have so much fun together. She had the brightest smile I’ve ever seen and a kindness to her eyes, instantly lighting up whatever room she entered. In 2019, she passed away after a tough battle with cancer. In her memory, I created this charcoal portrait; an attempt at capturing her essence and beauty. The creation process of this drawing was comforting and made me feel close to her once again. I imagine her as “The Brightest Star” in the sky, smiling down at my rendition of her. Since we can’t take any more photos of her, I can recreate the ones we have to keep her memory alive. In sharing this portrait, I hope to bring joy and warmth to the viewer, much like the way my aunt did for me.

This piece was meant to show the attachment that some feel towards their religions and religious communities, even when they might be harmed by them. Growing up queer when a religious community is your only community is confusing because you want to fit in conform and keep your people near, but thats just not who you are and who you are doesn't fit into the community.

For years, I've wanted to make the Beetlejuice musical version of Lydia Deetz's dress. While the red wedding dress she wears is more popular, I managed to get a couple references for her iconic black dress. I did a sketch to break down the elements of the costume. The skirt is made of 5 different lace patterns, 2 of each type, totaling 10 panels, with a gathered lace ruffle at the bottom, connected by a studded trim. The bodice is flocked dot chiffon over a white cotton lining. The sleeves are gathered chiffon with lace insertion and lace cuffs at the ends. The neck is mesh with a grid and dot pattern. All the lace in this was upcycled and dyed, as I like to reduce the amount of material I use. I ended up making some of the fabric where I could not find some, I made the studded trim with painted studs and satin ribbon, and I made the pattern around the neck with embroidery floss and hand painted dots. While I could have compromised on some design elements and made my life easier, I wanted to make it look as close as I could to the original, which meant getting creative with fabric paints and dyes. This was my first time working with so much lace and chiffon, which was challenging as they are regarded as formidable materials by many seamstresses, but I’m really happy with how it came out.

Inspired by a painting by Bob Ross, I felt that in today's society, the nature in our world is so often neglected. Us humans are always on our phones or computers, oblivious to the world around us. If we just looked outside the window, or hiked a little deeper into the mountains, we may be able to find such beauty like the scenery in the painting. The pitch black color amongst the trees represents how endlessly nature is able to thrive. We should take the time to appreciate this eternal gift of Mother Nature.

For the last seven years, I have dedicated an enormous portion of my life to volleyball. I have made some of my closest friends through the sport, but as my senior year approached, I faced a challenging decision. Despite my love for volleyball, my true passion always leaned towards a creative path. While my teammates aimed for college commitments, I had a different priority. I yearned to invest more time in design and art. To work through the conflict between art and volleyball, I created a self-portrait painting. It was my biggest project yet, trying to show my inner struggle. The background swirls with various colors (pink, black, blue, red, and white), matching my high school and club team colors. In contrast, the rest of the painting uses an older style like Neoclassicalism. I am seen reaching out into the distance, torn by the decision, standing in a vast open space, searching for answers. I keep reaching out with many questions and doubts about the choice and what comes next, hoping for guidance in the unknown. This choice reflects the tension between two seemingly different worlds I tried to navigate, but it helped me finalize my decision. Despite all the love and dedication I have for volleyball, I knew that my true passion lies in the world of art.

This piece is a representation of forbidden love. It is bittersweet in that people can be connected in beautiful ways, and that relationship can still be dangerous or impossible, much like spider lilies. For me, this piece is also an extension of how I see queer love. I am queer, and many of my closest relationships, both platonic and romantic, have been or are with other queer people. To me, those connections are beautiful and essential to who I am, but there is always the reminder that it is dangerous to be who we are. Finally, this is a dedication to every impossible relationship I thought I wanted more than anything. My process for this work consisted of taking reference photos of my hands and looking for references of butterflies and shiny, transparent material. The bulk of the actual rendering was on the hands; I spent a lot of time fiddling with colors and what aspects of the hand (tendons, knuckles, nails) to emphasize to achieve the look I wanted.

I made this 9x12 colored pencil piece when I made when I was extremely ill. This is a creative portrait of my dog, Gaia (aka Moose), and I. With this piece, I really wanted to express my feelings of sickness- make individuals as uncomfortable viewing it as I was at that time. The background depicts imagery from my body or online references, depicting the multiple illnesses I was experiencing at the time. These illnesses were an eye and skin infection, laryngitis and cold-like symptoms that knocked me out for two + weeks. I attempted an effect while making this piece in which I place realistic figures in an impossible setting, which is a process that I have been experimenting with recently. Overall this piece was an investigation into representing non-visual feelings through a visual medium in a style that feels authentic to me and my artwork.

Depicting a boy reading a book in the park, the soft, yet vibrant colours of watercolour accentuates the tranquility and peace of the outdoors. The shadows of the trees and translucent light seeping in adds sweeping beauty. Contrasting the peaceful atmosphere in the foreground, in the background other people play, also enjoying the warm afternoon. Through a variety of brush stroke techniques, I applied a rough texture to the leaves and truck of the trees while applying brilliant and smooth gradients on the shadows. When all the elements are added together, the result is a dreamy and beautiful world.

This piece depicts a feeling of self-hatred and disgust with one’s self. You can see tears in the upper figure’s eyes as they take out their anger on the lower figure, who shows no emotion in their face even as they are punched in the face. Both of the people in the painting are me, to express the feeling of over-critique of myself. You can beat yourself up so much over something that you become numb to the critique, and ultimately that keeps you stuck in the boxing ring of your mind. This is the largest piece I’ve ever worked on, and the only painting I’ve done on raw canvas. Working on this piece was challenging, but the complex perspective made the process very fun and engaging.

My bust is a representation of my inner self. Though it has my curly hair and facial features, it dives deeper into the spiritual and emotional side that others often do not see. What I focused on primarily is the start of a new chapter and how it makes me feel. The snake represents the change in my life. As it sheds its skin, they are known to humans as a symbol of a new start through shedding. My eyes are colored the same as the snake to show the connection between me and that creature symbolizing how we are one together. Lastly, is the color of my skin. I choose to use a glaze called Catalyna Crackle to show my feeling behind going into a new chapter. It represents the grief I am feeling but also looking upward to the future in a hopeful and positive way all while feeling the ache from starting new. Overall, my sculpture represents all the combinations of my emotions diving into the depth of my inner self.

For this work, I took inspiration from Frida Kahlo's self portraits, specifically her work titled “Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird”. I like the composition and connections with nature and culture often found in her work. In some ways, we are a lot alike because we both feel torn apart by our biracial heritage, in my case, Indian and German. In my self portrait, I wanted to incorporate my love for the vibrancy of nature with my deep connection to my Indian culture. I painted two animals at my side that are commonly found in West Bengal, India (the place my family is from) which includes the Bengal tiger and the green parrot. The foliage in the background is also native to West Bengal. I painted myself wearing a sari with the traditional Bengali pattern called kahntha stitch. My German connection in my self portrait is apparent from my light skin color which is often the first trait that people see. Even though I am torn about how people perceive me, I am equally proud of my Indian and German heritage.