Happy Sunday everybody! I hope that you are all doing well! Today will be one of my last few posts for this year. I thought that I would share a deeper side of me in this one. I hope that you all enjoy it! One thing that I have learned by growing up in a strict traditional household practicing a different culture is that people who are not like you want to hold you back, make you more like them. Both of my parents were born and raised in India, coming to the United States for their education and building a great life for my brother and me. I grew up practicing Hinduism, taking part in incredible traditional Indian festivals, and when compared to my friends, I was generally sheltered and not allowed to partake in as much. Initially, it used to bother me when I felt that I was being held back by my culture and religion, feeling as if I was not allowed to do everything I wanted, not allowed to be like the other kids around me. This caused me to resent my culture and religion and run away from it for many years… However, what I have come to understand as I have grown and matured is that my culture and the core values that my parents have imparted me with are what have made me who I truly am. Growing up in a primarily Caucasian society, I would be constantly berated and belittled for being different. I became used to hearing, “What are you eating?” “What are you wearing?” “Why aren’t you allowed to do this?” Now, I understand that I was not held back by my family nor my culture, or religion. Rather, I was held back by the belief that I had to be like everybody else around me. I was held back by the belief that being different was wrong. I was held back thinking that my culture, something that I am now so proud of, was holding me back from doing the same things my friends were doing. I have come to learn time and time again how important it is to pull against anybody or anything that holds you back, even when that person is yourself. My own thoughts, perpetuated by the actions and words of others around me, held me back from embracing a beautiful culture that has made me who I am today. I have learned how important it is to stay true to yourself and your roots. In this piece, done in colored pencil and gold leafing, I demonstrate being held back literally. I show a depiction of myself reaching out to the viewer, dressed in a traditional sari, attempting to pull against the two hands on either side of me trying to hold me back. By wearing the sari I am embracing my culture, adding a layer of traditional Indian heritage with the gold leafing and garb. The hands represent the various forces that are holding me back from embracing myself. This piece was so cathartic to create both in its message as well as through the technique of foreshortening. I have been meaning to write this post for some time but was wary of sharing and did not completely know how to put my thoughts into words. I hope that everything I talked about made some type of sense and that you all enjoyed reading some of my realizations and epiphanies. Thank you all so much for taking the time out of your day to read my words. As always, if anything that I discussed in this post stood out or if any questions arise please feel free to comment and share your thoughts! Looking forward to next Sunday. ~ Riya Please feel free to support me on Instagram @riya_aggarwal.art
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Happy Sunday everybody! I hope that you are all doing well. I realized right after I posted last week that I sorely missed an opportunity. Being that last Sunday was Holi and I remembered a little too late, I decided that this week I would talk about the beautiful and wonderous holiday that is the Festival of Colors. Enjoy! Holi is the ancient Hindu festival, also known as the “Festival of Love” or the “Festival of Colors”. This beautiful and fun festival celebrates the eternal and divine love of Radha and Krishna, whom I have talked about extensively in a few of my past posts. It also signifies the triumph of good over evil and signifies ridding oneself of past errors, ending conflicts by meeting others, and forgetting and forgiving. People pay or forgive debts, as well as deal anew with those in their lives. Holi also marks the start of spring, an occasion for people to enjoy the changing seasons and make new friends. On the eve of the festival, large pyres are lit in many parts of India to signify the burning away of evil spirits. People often throw wood, dried leaves, and twigs into bonfires. On the day of Holi, streets and towns turn incredible hues of red, green, pink, blue, and yellow as people throw colored powder into the air and splash them on others in a fun game that is traditional for Holi. These colors generally carry meaning. For instance, red symbolizes love and fertility while green stands for new beginnings. People will dress in white to make the experience of exploding colors more enjoyable and noticeable, wearing the bright hues as medallions or badges of honor after the festival is over. People also splash water on each other during the celebration. Water guns are used to squirt water while balloons filled with colored water are also flung from rooftops. As common with any Indian festival, food plays a significant role as families gather together for festive meals and distribute sweets among neighbors and friends. This incredibly colorful festival is my absolute favorite. “Playing” Holi with friends and family is essentially like a giant game of tag that involves bombarding each other with fistfuls of colored powder. It is a lot of fun and overall a beautiful experience. As an artist, the aftermath of Holi celebrations is a sight to behold and a work of art in itself. I plan on doing an art piece in the future inspired by the wonderful Festival of Colors, which I hope to be able to share with you all soon! I know that this was a bit of a different post, but I thought, even from the name of the holiday, it was incredibly fitting for an art blog. I hope that you all enjoyed this week’s post and perhaps learned something new about Indian culture! Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi https://time.com/5799354/what-is-holi/ As always, if anything that I discussed in this post stands out, or if any questions arise please feel free to comment and share your thoughts! Looking forward to next Sunday! ~ Riya |
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