Pieces of Me, 2023 11” × 14” Featured in: Seattle Asian Art Museum, in Home is Where the Heart Is exhibition Gallery Omata, in Stepping Out exhibition
Four letters will never be enough to capture the meaning of home: because to me, it means the places and the people I love the most. So how do I begin to distill such a powerful theme—the most precious thing in my life—into one action one moment, one snapshot, one image? Washing fruits: it's the first thing I do when I reach home after a long day at school, or every time my mom brings me a plate of food to tide a night of studying—an act of love. It reminds me of Augusts in India, watching my grandmother cut open the dewy skin of a yellow mango—or hosing down tomatoes with my younger cousins, who truly are my second family, in their lush garden. It’s an action that means I can carry a piece of home—the memories of the very people who define mine—with me, always.
Citrus Symphony, 2023 12” × 14” Featured in: Gallery Omata, in Sweet Treats exhibition
The first bite into a chocolate birthday cake, the cinnamon scent from a local bakery wafting through the air, or a crimson maraschino cherry sinking into a milkshake. Each are sweet treats I vividly remember—but the very first memory that flits across my mind at the mention of sweet isn't any of them. It's the overpowering scent of grapefruit, filling the air. "Citrus Symphony" pays homage to my family's yearly trip to a fruit orchard. It's a place where every tree branch is dotted with ochre orbs: grapefruits so ripe and plentiful, they seem to almost roll into your hands. Through this work, seven slices of grapefruit come alive with a burst of striking, intense colors.
Revived, 2023 12” × 14” Featured in: VALA Art Gallery, in Forbidden Fruits exhibition
Carry Me Home, 2023 12” × 12”
For every summer I can remember, my parents have spent a day knelt over our black suitcases, delicately packing sun-kissed oranges. They’ll put each one in a plastic bag, tightly wrapping the circular orbs, before enveloping them in a rather shabby cardboard box. In the next days, each will travel more than 3,000 miles: from my grandfather’s home in Ranchi, India, to mine in Seattle, Washington. Carry Me Home pays homage to the moment I can once again hold the citrus fruits—setting them on our kitchen counter before we peel the rough saffron skin. In the moments after we first open the plastic bag, a pungent aroma fills the space.
While the fragrance of butter chicken or naan transports me to my grandmother's kitchen, it’s these oranges that bring me back into her arms: filled with the citrus fruits, as she carries them back from the garden. They are my cultural tie to India: to my grandparents’ garden, where each citrus tree began from a seed brought from their village more than six decades ago. When I hold each orange, I’m not merely holding a fruit—I’m holding a testament to my Indian heritage, a passport through stories and time.
Each of the following pieces were inspired by interviews with scientists in multiple fields, complete with a scientist biography and artist statement.
Disease and Differentials, 2023 18” × 24” Featured in: Sammamish City Library, in Visualizing STEM: An Artistic Perspective exhibition
Casey Middleton is an infectious disease researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and a PhD student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She builds computer programs, informed by math and large amounts of data, to predict the transmission of infectious diseases. Her work is the basis for effective prevention techniques. Casey loves research because to her, it is deeply purposeful and has an impact in real lives: her own and others.
Disease and Differentials highlights Casey’s extensive work in math modeling, and her interest in math from a young age. The equations used in the background are true snippets of from her work. Alluding to the diseases she studies, the different types of microorganisms responsible for them are included as well.
The Botany of Genetics, 2023 18” × 24” Featured in: Sammamish City Library, in Visualizing STEM: An Artistic Perspective exhibition
Dr. John Medina is molecular biologist and professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington. His work focuses on understanding psychology through a genetic lens, as well as neuroscience—how the mind reacts to and organizes information. His day-to-day work includes teaching, research, and writing, as he is also the New York Times bestselling author for his book series "Brain Rules.” Dr. Medina believes his work looks for intersection: across levels (cellular, molecular, behavioral), ideas, and people.
Struck by the day his professor brought in a genetically modified tobacco plant, that now glowed, the glowing swirls highlight the beginning of Medina’s fascination with genetics. In the interview, Medina shared the concept of “orchid” and “dandelion” babies. This phenomena suggests that genetic traits inform personality, where some individuals are highly sensitive (orchids), while others are resilient and can thrive in a variety of environments (dandelions).
Between Soil and Stars, 2023 18” × 24” Featured in: Sammamish City Library, in Visualizing STEM: An Artistic Perspective exhibition
Fatima Husain is an organic geochemist and PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She uses a combination of biology, geology, and chemistry to understand astrobiology. Much of her work is in the laboratory, analyzing soil samples to find chemical signatures of ancient microbes. She uses this data to make predictions about life beyond earth.
One of the most influential figures in her journey in geochemistry—from stumbling upon the field to pursuing it as a career—has been her mentor, Dr. Jan Tullis. To Fatima, geochemistry bridges the gaps between scientific disciplines, and effectively, her interests.