Artist Statement:

Traveling is one of my passions, and after having been to many parts of the world, saw that it is quite common for someone to desire to move to his/her “dream” place. This could be realized by immigrating to that dream place, working hard to settle down, trying to immerse and assimilate to his/her new surroundings. Witnessing a lot of people doing this gave me the opportunity to reflect my own self as a first generation immigrant, in the same shoes.

The mouse you see in my painting is not welcomed by anyone nor like very much. It symbolizes “immigrants” working hard and trying to overcome various socio-economic challenges. The mouse is “afraid” and “weak” but is treated at the same time as a “character” with its own idiosyncratic feelings. It gets assimilated to nature and gets healed by nature just as we do.

The title of my piece is “Sanctuary.” It is part of a series. It is my sincere wish that the feelings of “freedom” and “restfulness” I felt while I worked get conveyed to all who are looking at my piece.