Keerthi Pelluru

India. America. For some, these two words are just meaningless words. For me, they represent my identity, my culture—I was born in an Indian immigrant household in New York. In this gallery, Indian culture is explored. This exhibition tells a story about embracing one’s culture—a universal first-generation immigrant story. The pieces are displayed in chronological order of growing up and the different phrases of life. Visiting museums, I realized there were no paintings about Indian culture, so I decided to only do paintings for my exhibit.

Influenced by Edgar Degas’ ballerinas, I chose to portray Indian dance in art. Dance is a fundamental piece in Indian culture—my sister danced Bharatanatyam and I would stare at her hands. Her hands conveyed a story. To tell my story about different life experiences, I painted mudras in my piece. I chose to do a series because visually it is like a sentence, just not in words but in hands. I made the hands look abstract to parallel the abstract concepts the mudras convey. The bright colors of the hands parallel the bright costumes Bharatanatyam dancers wear.

The mini paintings of flowers, Memories , pinned with clips and hanging above the exhibition. I chose these mini paintings to represent the photographs and memories I gained when I visited India. To make them look like photographs, I pinned them, so the viewer will realize that they are like photographs. They are hung above to represent that sometimes one must look at a new perspective to find one’s identity. Traveling to India, I gained a part of my identity and my culture. I also saw the differences between America andIndia. To convey this, I did 2 pieces. One of them being the mini paintings, Memories , is inspired by the flowers I photographed in India. This also symbolizes a turning point in my story—I realized being Indian and different is beautiful like the flowers in this piece.

When people finish seeing my artwork, I hope they will feel more empathetic about different cultures and people around them.

Alapadma

Alapadma is a mudra that represents a lotus and can also convey the dancer asking a question of why. I chose to include white designs on the corners to replicate Indian designs.

Tri Mudra

This piece displays three mudras: Tripataka, Pataka, and Ardhapataka. I chose these mudras because these are the three first mudras a Bharatnaytam dancer learns which is why I chose to paint them in primary colors to parallel that these mudras are the foundation for the dancer like primary colors are for an artist. I chose to add glitter in some spots to make the viewer focus on the hands.

Katakamukha

This painting showcases the power of Indian classical dance, specifically Bharatnatyam. The Katakamukha, a mudra (hand gesture), featured in this piece represents opening bracelets, plucking flowers, or wearing necklaces. I chose this mudra because it is the only mudra that can represent three things. In the corners are rangoli designs which Indian women paint with bright colored sand to bring good luck. The vibrant color palette parallels the vibrancy of Bharatnatyam.

What is that Smell?

Food is a vital part of Indian culture. I chose the Samosa to be the main focus in this piece because it is a staple in Indian diet. Likewise, the sandwich is a staple in my American diet. To showcase the contrast between Indian and American food, I painted the Samosa and Jalebis, an Indian sweet, in similar colors to symbolize the importance of Indian food to me. The colors of the Indian food contrasted with the Sandwich--representing the differences of foods from countries.

Blindness

This piece shows how other people around me are facing the same struggles of fitting in and finding their identity. To show those struggles, I made the faces of the people depressed and confused. However, the colorful Indian designs represent the bright future for these people once they look behind them and find out who they are. For me, the Indian backgrounds serve as a reminder that my Indian culture and foundation will always follow me.

Identity

I chose three objects: running shoes, glasses, and an elephant statue from India to represent who I am. The running shoes juxtaposed the elephant statue to rebuttal the stereotype that Asians are only smart and not athletic. The glasses represent the Asian stereotype of being smart. The main focus are the objects, so that is why they fill up the space in the canvas.

Memories

When I visited India, I took many photographs of flowers. They represented a timesake memory. To reiterate that, I did mini watercolor paintings of flowers I photographed. I wanted the viewer to think the paintings are photographs, so I pinned them like how pictures are pinned together. The arrangement of the paintings also symbolize the range of beauty in nature India has to offer.

Light and Dark

When I visit India, I see pollution everywhere. I also see beauty. To represent this, I chose three flowers to symbolize beauty: lotus, marigold, and rose. These flowers are used in wedding or religious ceremonies in India. I chose watercolor to paint these to display the delicacy of them. Underneath the beauty, I painted trash to showcase the other side of India. The bright yellow and dark orange oil pastel background represents the bright and dark side of India.

Page updated

Report abuse