I am a South Asian American photographer, born and raised in New Delhi, India. My professional life began in the financial sector but assumed a creative direction after I became a mother. Both my daughters were born in Dubai, UAE, where my husband and I lived for six years before our relocation to the U.S. in early 2013. I earned my master’s degree in Commerce from The University of Delhi, New Delhi, India; and am an alumna of the School of Visual Arts Continuing Education, NYC. Presently, I have a self-directed practice and work from her studio at home in New York City.
My work is concerned with the psychological experience of owning the maternal identity. In looking after my daughters’ needs for protection and nurturance, I was led to investigate my past conflicts as a girl, woman, and young mother. At times with me in focus and other times with my daughters as an embodiment of my spirit, I construct images to re-represent my experience of femininity and motherhood by using these identities as tools for empowerment. Memories, dreams, and suppressed feelings guide my creative inquiry. I use symbolism to represent ideas and attributes and as references to myth or popular iconography.
Ultimately I endeavor to create images that urge the viewer to contemplate the complexities of the maternal experience in its ambivalent entirety, and contribute to a narrative about the lives of women and their children, told from their perspectives.