I am an artist and a visual arts educator in Chicago Public Schools, and I strive to create curriculum and a classroom community that uplifts young people to feel comfort in vulnerability when sharing their experiences through visual art. Throughout the year, my classroom carefully explores and visualizes our connections to emotionally and environmentally relevant concepts through drawing, painting, animation, graphic design, ceramics, and textiles.

The lessons I’ve learned from trauma-informed teaching also inform a lot of the way I approach tattooing, which center the clients’ comfort, knowledge of the tattooing process, and consent to the permanent change to their skin.

As a first generation child of immigrants from South India, my tattoo flash designs are deeply personal to me and inspired by experiences, research, and critique on the Hindu Tamil culture I was brought up in. Tattooing in Chicago has been a vital way for me to connect with other South Asian people while finding a home far from where I grew up. I love offering my flash as a means of sharing stories and offering protection to others through imagery of kolams, food offerings, saari designs, and holy creatures.