Shreya on Art, Identity, and Finding Community After College
A conversation on painting, design, and navigating the creative world as a south asian artist.
by Neha Hosangadi
Shreya and I met several years ago through our Indian dance classes, one of the only spaces I ever had for meeting with other people in the South Asian community, and it was wonderful reconnecting with her while discussing similar challenges. In our conversation, Shreya reflected on her time at Rutgers, complexities of being a South Asian artist, and the importance of community in creative spaces— something that I really connected with being a South Asian designer in college as well. She also shared insights on her thesis work, which focused on her exploration of her identity as a South Asian-American, along with her evolving practice, and transition into post-grad life.
Neha: Okay, to start, can you introduce yourself generally and tell us a little bit about your creative practice?
Shreya: My name is Shreya and I graduated in May 2024 from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, where I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts with concentrations in painting and design.
A little bit about my art-making practice during school, especially during my thesis—it definitely focused on my South Asian heritage and navigating the spaces I’m in as an Indian American. And I think that’s something that’s always going to be important to me in my practice, no matter where I go. Also, advocating for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the arts, and uplifting minority voices, is really important to me.
N: And how did you first get into art?
S: This might be a bit of a boring or cliché answer, but I think I’ve always been making art and surrounded by it growing up. I remember my first art classes were literally with my friend’s mom, and from there, I kept taking art classes. Even in elementary school, when we had electives like gym, music, and art, I always looked forward to art class. I think I just naturally gravitated toward it—it’s something I’ve always loved.
Again, it sounds cliché, but it’s true. It was always a way for me to express myself. Even when it wasn’t drawing or painting, I loved fashion. I would DIY my own clothes and make things, so for me, self-expression—whether through art, fashion, or even music—has always been important.
Then I guess in high school, things got a little more serious. People were trying to figure out what they wanted to do for college and, like, for the rest of their life I remember I was on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. At one point, I was debating going into STEM, like, Oh, maybe I’ll do biomedical engineering. But then, in the back of my mind, I was also like, Maybe I should just try art school. I remember applying just for fun, like, Let’s see if I even get in. And then once senior year ended, I was like, Let me just try it, and if I don’t like it, I’ll quit. But then, four years later, I got my degree in art—so yeah.
N: So what would you say is your primary practice? I know you paint, but does that ever overlap with design for you, and how do you find that balance?
S: I think during school, I really focused on painting—or I guess I’ll just say visual arts in general. In conversation, I tend to separate art and design, but honestly, I think design is art, and art is also design. It’s just that people usually separate them when talking about them.
But yeah, in college, I primarily focused on painting, and I think it was definitely more of my passion. I just naturally gravitated toward it more. Besides painting, I took a lot of classes in traditional fine art mediums—ceramics, silkscreening, photography—basically anything, because I figured that was the time to try things out. That was definitely more of my focus.
Just growing up in general, I was more involved in visual arts and traditional mediums like painting and drawing. I had never done graphic design before college and that was rough because I felt like a lot of people around me already knew what they were doing, so the transition was a little hard.
Moving forward, though, I’m interested to see where design takes me. And I definitely want to develop a more interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary portfolio. But for now, I keep them separate—it just feels easier.
N: Can you share a little bit about your experience at Rutgers, or just the way your program worked, especially if you did both painting and design?
S: I think the way the school is set up and how the curriculum is structured kind of dictates what classes people take. For me, what was nice was that since I was in both the visual arts and design tracks, I got to take a mix of digital design classes and more hands-on, material-based classes. But they can definitely intersect. I definitely think it was a little weird being both a painter and a designer, just because that wasn’t a combination you saw often. I think I only had like three friends who did both. A lot of times, people in design would also do photography—something more adjacent. And people in painting would do sculpture or something along those lines. But you rarely saw someone doing both painting and design.
It was kind of weird because, even beyond the classroom, there’s always that debate in the art world—like, Is design art? Or is it just design? But I feel like it’s all intertwined. Even really research-based painting is still research-based, just like design.
N: Was there any moment for you, before college or even during it, that you felt like you knew this was exactly what you wanted to do?
S: Honestly, it kind of feels like a blur because it was so long ago, and senior year of high school was already stressful.
N: It was also during COVID, right?
S: Yeah, for me, it was during COVID too, so there was just a lot going on that year. Besides school, it was also about navigating life and figuring things out.
I don’t think there was any defining moment for me. It was more like, Let me just apply and see if I get in. And once I got in, I thought, Let me just try this and see how it goes. What really kept me going was that it just kept getting more interesting—I felt like I was learning a lot and also growing as a person.
And the community was really inspiring. My classmates were amazing, and I think that’s what kept me engaged and motivated. But yeah, there wasn’t really a specific defining moment.
N: How do you go about your creative process?
S: I guess for me, I kind of discovered this more later on, and I think I really pushed it during my thesis—but I really love experimentation and testing out different things. Before I even started working on my actual big pieces for my thesis, I just kept experimenting. I did smaller paintings, tested different canvases with different mediums, tore the canvas, reshaped it—just kept trying things out.
So I feel like experimentation is something I really love, and I think it’s something I want to keep doing. Because I also feel like when you experiment, it’s kind of playful—like being in a science lab, trying different things. And I think that playfulness is really important, like, you don’t always have to be super serious when making art. That’s something I really learned. I also feel like experimenting helps eliminate perfectionism because you’re just trying things out, seeing what happens, and going with the flow—which is really nice.
And I think I also really got into research again. I loved research in high school, but I didn’t really explore it again until my thesis. I was researching a lot about the themes I was working with, looking into different artists, culture, and media. So I think that’s something I want to continue doing—research.
I think those two things—experimentation and research—are really important to my practice, no matter what medium I’m working in, whether it’s painting, design, or whatever.
N: Did you feel like you faced any challenges navigating the creative industry, specifically as a South Asian?
S: I know every school is different, but I feel really thankful for the community at Mason Gross. I don’t want to speak on behalf of other students or other communities, but for me, I really felt like I belonged. I met people who made me feel comfortable but also challenged my ideas and opened up my perspective. So it was really embracing and empowering.
And I think after my class—the class of 2024—I noticed a lot more students of color, especially South Asians. I don’t know if that was just timing or maybe something about COVID, but I definitely noticed it. What was also nice is that outside of the art school, if I ever needed a break or just wanted to meet new people, I could literally just go to Rutgers, which has a huge South Asian/Desi population. That was really nice too, and I’m grateful for that.
In terms of challenges, I think there’s always going to be things that take a long time to change. Educators and students are really working on it, but the Western canon is just so dominant—especially in the curriculum. That’s something I’ve always thought about, even in high school, and it was still present in art school. But honestly, I find exploring those issues interesting and important to me. That was probably my biggest issue, but I’m thankful that I didn’t experience anything really serious.
I’m also really thankful that my parents support me, but it can be hard to talk to them about certain things—especially when it comes to my career. No one in my family or community has done art before, so if I have questions about my field, I can’t really go to them. I have to ask my classmates or professors instead, which can feel a little isolating sometimes, especially now that we are post-grad.
But overall, Mason Gross was a really welcoming place for me. It felt like we were all working as a team, especially my senior year when so much was happening.
There were teacher strikes going on—this was all over the news, so I feel like I can mention it—but students would go support the unions. And especially during the Gaza and Palestine protests, so many Mason Gross students came together to make T-shirts, posters, flyers, and banners for the protests. It was really empowering to see my classmates and other art students show up for what they believed in. I think that’s one of the benefits of a smaller school—you feel that sense of community.
As of right now, I haven’t faced any distinct or personal issues navigating this space as a South Asian, but there is still that general struggle—lack of representation, the dominance of the Western canon, not being surrounded by people who fully understand your path. Finding your own community and your people is really important. That’s why I’m so thankful for my classmates, professors, and other art friends—because we rely on each other for that.
N: Can you talk a little bit about your thesis?
S: My thesis was the beginning of an exploration, like a collage of themes and ideas that are really important to me. It primarily focused on my South Asian heritage and navigating the world as an Indian American. And I kind of collaged that main focus with other things I love, like pop culture or Gen Z culture. I was really influenced by Afrofuturism and also just sci-fi and fantasy.
And in terms of material and process experimentation, I kind of wanted to challenge the conventions of oil painting, which, in Western history, has always been at the top of the hierarchy. So I wanted to push against that. I wanted to challenge the conventional square or rectangular frame of paintings, so instead, I was like, let me paint on circles. And I also took the paintings off the wall and displayed them on the ground because I wanted them to feel more communal—like people would walk around them, sit near them, instead of just viewing them from a distance.
But yeah, I think essentially my thesis was also an exploration of self, honestly—just kind of figuring out who I am. I was influenced by this interview I read in one of my classes between Jennifer Packer and Kerry James Marshall. And basically, they were debating this idea that, as people of color, our identities are constantly being challenged in this world. So, like, do we build our own worlds to exist in, where we can thrive? Or do we continue to fight in the one we’re in? And I think that idea was kind of a guiding question throughout my thesis, especially as I was exploring race and how brown bodies are represented in art and gallery spaces.
So my floor pieces, which were these circular paintings, I kind of wanted them to function as portals—almost like semi-imagined galaxies or worlds for the viewer to look into. But yeah, by the end, I definitely still had a lot of questions, like—what if I pushed this further? What if I explored different materials? But I think that was the fun of it, you know? Like, I can always go back to it and keep exploring if I want.
N: Would you say your thesis is the project you’re most proud of, or is there anything else?
S: I think all the work I made before my thesis was, in some way, leading up to it, even if I didn’t realize it at the time. There were definitely moments when I was really hard on myself—feeling like I didn’t like my work or wasn’t proud of it. But looking back now, I’m actually thankful I made those pieces. Sometimes you have to make "bad" art to get to the work you’re really proud of.
I was also still figuring out my voice as an artist, so in some way, everything I made led to my thesis. And I think my thesis is what I’m most proud of because of everything I went through to get to the end. The process, the obstacles, everything I learned along the way. And I think I really did it for myself. Especially because I never even thought I’d go to art school, so it felt important for me to be able to say, “I did this, and I should be proud of it.”
Another project that really meant a lot to me—this isn’t necessarily an art project, but during my junior year, one of my close friends and I co-curated an exhibition that focused on showcasing South Asian artists, voices, and artwork. That was my first time curating, and it was such a fun experience—getting artists together, collecting works, organizing them in a space, figuring out how to curate everything, and then actually marketing the show. It was just really exciting to see it all come to life.
I don’t think there had ever been a gallery or showcase at Mason Gross that specifically focused on South Asian artists before, so that was something we really wanted to push. Looking back, of course, there are things I would have done differently, but that’s just part of trying things out for the first time. Still, it’s something I’ll always be really proud of. It’s such a fond memory—working on this with my friend, bringing all these artists together, and just seeing people with shared identities and stories in the same space. That was really special and empowering.
N: Do you have any advice for South Asians who are trying to break into the industry, as someone who is also trying to do the same thing?
S: Definitely, finding or building a community where you feel seen and heard is really important.
It might sound cliché, but I think it’s also just being authentic to yourself. Especially in design, many friends ended up in corporate rather than studios or agencies. Sometimes the corporate world can be really consuming. And it can really, like, sort of kill your individuality, because you’re always forced to put on this mask, you know? Be professional, act a certain way, speak a certain way. So I feel like it’s important to just be authentic to yourself. Like, it sounds so cliché, but if you lose sight of that, then it’s going to be even harder to navigate and connect with people.
Also, keep making work. I haven’t really followed up on this piece of advice myself, but I do think it’s important. Even if you need a break after art school, don’t stop creating—doodle, take photos, do anything. It helps you grow.
And I guess, specifically, like, another piece of advice for the South Asian community—my biggest thing is community, like, find your people. But also, yeah, just, like, keep—this sounds so cliché—but keep being yourself. Be proud of yourself and your accomplishments. You have to be your biggest cheerleader, yeah. Like, regardless of what you’re doing in life, you have to put yourself first and be your biggest cheerleader. And just be proud of your identity and what you stand for, what you advocate for.
And definitely don’t be afraid to push the boundaries and experiment, even after school. School is like a different world to navigate—going from school, which feels like a bubble and sometimes has that safety net, to being thrown into, like, “Okay, now figure it out.” Like, yeah, it’s definitely tough. But I think as long as you stay with what’s important to you and you know yourself, then it’ll be easier to navigate.
N: Okay, last question, do you have anything exciting coming up that you would like to share?
S: Nothing right now, honestly. I think right now, it’s just been a lot of self-reflection, focusing on my health and family. But I definitely do want to experiment with new materials and get more into photography, ceramics, and printmaking—yeah. Just trying to see how I can make my practice work at home, because I cannot oil paint from my room—that’s not safe. So I think just exploring new materials. Yeah.
N: Great, thank you so much! This was wonderful.
You can follow along with Shreya’s creative journey on instagram @shreyasarts1