Healing Through Art Gala
Art Market:
Artists
Maiura
Maiura is a self-taught multi-media visual maker and has dabbled in - ceramics, watercolors, pointillism, oils, acrylics, sculpture, architectural design, etc. The driving impulse in making anything has always been uniqueness and originality, as much as anything can be either unique or original because everything is really only a derivative of something(s) else. Making things is a compulsion arising naturally and manifesting into an object or painting that may or may not be exactly what was imagined.
Nauka Patel
Most people don't think about poetry in the day-to-day hustle of their busy lives. People turn to art and to poetry when they are feeling the highs and lows of human existence. That's when they search for something to help make sense of their emotions. They wonder if anyone can relate, if anyone has ever felt this ecstatic or empty before. That's why I write poetry, to make sense of my own highs and lows. I hope my writing can help do that for others too
Sheevangi Pathak
For me, art isn’t easy: there’s something freeing in concentrating on where my brush or pencil goes, and turning off the other nagging parts of your brain. I started painting and drawing in high school and found it was a great way to relieve stress. But of course as I got busier, I stopped. It’s funny how life gets stressful, we stop making time to do things that relieve stress. Recently, over the last few years, I’ve started up again. I moved to a new city, knowing no one else except my partner, leaving my community of family and friends 3000 miles away. I found myself signing up for an art class - in an effort to meet other people, and since then, it’s been non-stop! Creating something gives me purpose, something to look forward to, something to plan & focus on. It’s really helped me cope with what life throws at me and I hope it's a habit I keep for a lifetime.
Savita Sukha
Savita Sukha is a New York City based acrylic and watercolor painter. As a first-generation, Indian-Guyanese American, Savita uses art to explore her confused and ever-changing identity and the subsequent lingering, bitter taste of otherness. Core to Savita’s work is recreating beauty to celebrate female empowerment, to embrace femininity, and to express rebellion. When not hours deep into a painting, Savita enjoys seeing patients and caring for women as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner.
Monica Chitre
My paintings are my intimate diary entry, an exhale. They can serve as a reflection of my own waves of emotion, the complexities of being a woman, or the way a song molds my body. As women, we tend to minimize these emotions of ambition, insecurity, sensuality, heartbreak, and grief and only allow ourselves to fully immerse in them when we are alone. Through these pieces, I try to capture glimpses of those personal moments. I want to create a connection between myself and the audience to show that we are not alone in our struggles and that it is possible to find healing through vulnerability.
Sonam Desai
"Snows Design"
Snows Design was created back in 2013 as a stress reliever from my Banking job so that I could focus on making some art after hours and that’s how the brand developed.
Snows Design has grown quite drastically over the years, especially during Covid lockdown. At the time, I was living abroad in London, UK. When we went into lockdown, I was working almost 15 hours a day with my Finance job since we were working from home. I was burnt out, my mental health was drastically deteriorating due to lack of communication, fear, and frankly, I was in a new country with no real relationships during a scary, unknown period. That's when I knew I had to preoccupy my mind and time that did not involve work and I started rebranding Snows Design and focusing on the brand's growth.
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Over the months, I started making jewelry again and then in 2022 I created a new market making quirky Desi food inspired jewelry and accessories, not knowing if people would care to wear Jalebi, Khaman, Samosa, etc earrings and boy was I proved wrong!
My main objective of the Desi Khana collection is to bring that nostalgic feeling to customers when they see our designs. I want you to remember all the good memories you had when you shared Parle-G and Chai with your family or remembering that time when you would go back to India and drink a ThumsUp or Limca.
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All items are handmade from designing to assembling to packaging. I hope that Snows Design also inspires you to be creative and unique in many different ways!
Millie Shah
Millie Shah graduated with her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2019, completed her Pediatrics Residency in Boston, and is currently working at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She was always a doodler though – a blank space on a handout would always be filled with lines. With all the stress and anxiety that comes with not only being a young physician but also a woman finding her way in the world, her doodles were her escape.
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MilDoodles is grounded on a foundation of mental health. Each drawing you see in her portfolio has a story attached to it and often it is one of high anxiety and chaos. She processed the static in her mind into lines on paper and found calm with each stroke of her pen. Millie uses her doodles as a therapeutic measure when she is anxious as she continues to learn life with a stethoscope and a pen all the while believing in the goodness of humanity.​
Apurva LingNurkar
Apurva, a resident of Ohio, established Purple Hippo Pottery as a result of his passion for ceramics. The pandemic fueled his creativity and he found solace in making pottery. Not only did he enjoy creating pieces for himself and his loved ones, but he also wanted to share his art with a wider audience. By starting Purple Hippo Pottery, he not only offers his unique ceramics for sale but also believes that making art can contribute to one's mental well-being. Each piece crafted by Apurva at Purple Hippo Pottery is made thoughtfully and carefully with a focus on detail, ensuring that every creation is a unique work of art.
Nikhil Bylapudi
Art and the process of creating is, to me, inherent to everyone. Everyone has their own unique shades of experience and they owe it to themselves to create. I believe anything created serves a purpose as a medium for communication and a catalyst to encourage a shift in perspective. In this vein, I don't consider myself an artist, but seek to understand the happenings in my own personal life by the process of making feelings tangible in whatever ways I can. I work through prose in either poetry or short stories and visual mediums like photography, charcoal, design and painting. Everything I do is one of one.
Juli Van hoeven
Juli van Hoeven is a Philadelphia native who began exploring self expression through art at a young age. Juli received art education at the Moore College of Art and Design and at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also pursued degrees in Political Science and Law. Juli rediscovered painting as an essential creative outlet to balance the demands of a hectic career and is delighted to share her work with others.
Mansi Pathak
Mansi is a self taught artist from Princeton lives with her Husband and her 7 months old daughter. She believes in spreading kindness and love. She tries to portray love faith and peace through her paintings. Her Husband is a true support for her art passion.
