‘Reflecting Life’ is a smattering of experiences frozen in time, from the artist’s point of view. Living on the colourful intersection of femininity, queerness, being brown and of mixed caste in the global south, she has a quirky, often dark take on the present times. It is a time of violence, overt and covert. It is a time of presenting the appearance of saccharine sweet ‘happiness’ to a vast audience of profit-oriented bots. It is a time of exploiting the feminine – whether she shows up as nature or humanity.

Yet, hope glimmers at the edges of this sordid tale. Another revolution around the sun, another day and night, another chance to reclaim ourselves as the complex, loving children of nature that we are. Returning to childhood and nature as homing points, the artist hopes again and again, painting with blood and tears. These paintings, painted directly with fingers onto canvas, tell a dark story indeed, but it is, like the best that life has to offer, a love story at the end of the day.

The exhibit begins with the stormy potential of contained passion, flowing into the wonderland of childhood magic, where colours appear brighter against the secure golden net of innocence. Set on the other side of this Ofrenda are the lines of fate, the inevitable dance of light and dark that every life must encounter in the journey towards death. It is a prescience of what is to come ahead.

The balance of light and dark soon shifts towards the violence of a claustrophobic life, where resilience struggles against the chains of patriarchy and the abuse of power. In the name of status quo, the feminine is raped and plundered, and trapped within the rules and limitations of propriety. The unbearable glass ceiling stitches lips together, stunting expression and evoking horror.

Amidst this gory dance of life without the rosy lenses, Nature sleeps. She sleeps in twilight, surrounded by her calm and vibrant elements, waiting with patience, watching with awareness. Even as the trapped violence echoes in the act of childbirth, nature hopes. Her resilience sings with the cry of the newborn, her optimism rings with the loving comfort of the womb.

Flowering hope and joy abound as the cycle comes to a close, the heart that loves life returning to the potential of passion even as the storm threatens the pain, anger and violence that live in the shadow of every light.

‘Reflecting life’ reflects light and love. It reflects resilience and regeneration. As years add greys to the scalp, wrinkles fold against eyes that shine with the soul of a life that is lived. Sometimes, there is no external exhilaration or ecstasy. Sometimes, the colours of life herself offer a palette so vivid, that living through the rollercoaster of every single day is its own reward. It is a reward that warms the heart in a way that all the likes and comments in the world could aspire to, but never achieve. Life is her own gift.