I began with a quest for beauty. 

In high school and college, I would create artwork just because I liked the aesthetic and felt drawn to certain locations or people based on their energy and their beauty.  I had no other reason to create; no political or emotional agenda popular among other artists around me.  I wasn't making comments on the war on terror or unleashing pent up teenage rage into angry abstract expressions.  I was a classical artist with a painterly ability and a quest for beauty.

Then things went deeper. At one point, I was facing challenging circumstances.  Very challenging.  I had to pray to maintain my peace, my dignity and my sense of worth.  Out of this pain came my first artwork that had a purpose beside aesthetics.  Out of this valley came Shoreline,* my first painting in the symbolist genre.  Looking online to works of the symbolists of the 19th century, and to modern day symbolists, like Gail Potoki and others, the idea for the painting took shape as a way to express my emotions.  My friend, Deepa Madhavan, posed for the work, and the landscape and curtain were inventions from my mind.  The girl is drowning, standing waist-deep in the sea, trying to find the shore (which is not present), and the swan wing is the angelic presence that provides hope and promise of a better tomorrow.  This painting was cathartic for me, and gone was the simplicity of painting solely to capture beauty. My art had a purpose, and a deeper meaning, and the beauty was an added bonus.

Though I still paint basic portraits and landscapes, and other things like my abstract patterns in addition to symbolist works, they all have a deeper meaning.  They represent holiness, dignity, kindness; the intrinsic worth of every being in this universe. Beauty still inspires me.  Beauty that is felt to the depth of my being but now based on spiritual certainties.  Certainties like abundance, goodness, worth that we all possess and that can never be taken away. I find that in faces, animals, sunsets, intricate patterns based on lace.  I'm on a quest for meaning, and it motivates all of my artwork. 

*The title for this painting comes from a song of the same title by indie rock band, Deas Vail.  This song was an anchor for me during this period, and speaks about digging deep to find meaning in tough times.  Really gorgeous song.  Check it out!