Two of my hobbies are drawing or painting portraits and collecting unique postcards to send to my friends so for this project I knew I wanted to design a series of postcards, specifically the kind you may find in a gift shop at an art museum. I began researching different museum collections for a way to rework their pieces into my own. That is when I learned that out of 23,000+ works in the National Portrait Gallery, only 35 are of Indians, 5 of which are women. However, Indians are the second largest immigrant group in the United States and have made countless contributions to America’s progress and the world’s. I aimed to reflect Indian and Indian Americans’ diverse culture and achievements using my postcards as a medium since this is a way Indian stories, art and culture can be shared by and with everyone. In this process, I was also able to connect to my own heritage which has been a goal of mine for a very long time.

Influential Indians is a collection of postcards, which depicts Indian and Indian Americans’ portraits through various Indian traditions, customs and shares their story as well. Through these postcards, I showcase the vastness of Indian contributions, from art and activism to spirituality and science. Each portrait is meant to emulate a style of traditional Indian art and display the vibrancy of Indian culture. This project exists to honor and bring awareness to Indian and Indian Americans who deserve to be known and celebrated for what they’ve accomplished. I dedicate this to my grandparents who emigrated from India in the 60s and my father who was born there.