Exhibitions

I named Garden of Arjun for my younger brother. As he was adjusting to college and the responsibilities of adulthood, I wanted to help him through the transition. I recognized that uncertainty in other students too. I was thinking about how quickly youth passes and the difference between remembering an experience and the feeling it leaves.

The exhibition brought together four double-sided acrylic paintings on plexiglass. Working on both sides let me approach a memory and its emotional quality differently. A frantic, heavily textured side could suggest the effort of chasing a childhood memory; a softer reverse could express appreciation for it. The transparency and gloss of the plexiglass gave the colors a different relationship on each side.

Installed as freestanding objects, the paintings could be walked around and seen from either side, with room to move between them. I hoped the exhibition might offer some solace to people finding their way into adulthood.

Supported by a College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Grant, Lehigh University.