Early Work.
Works produced 2015-2017.
Charcoal, watercolor, ink.
Charcoal on Paper 30x45 cm "Dance"
Charcoal on Paper 30x45 cm "My Teacher"
Charcoal on Paper 30x45 cm "Dance Dissected"
Charcoal on Paper 30x45 cm "Banana in Ziploc"
Watercolor on (200gsm) Paper 56x76 cm Invented landscape of Venice, loosely based on family photos and imagination.
Ink on Paper 15x20 cm Architectural study of Brazilian landmarks: Catedral da Sé, Estádio Cícero Pompeu, Favela Heliópolis (left to right).
Catedral da Sé
Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo
Favela Heliópolis
56x76 cm Watercolor exploration study.
Watercolor on Paper 15x20 cm "Audition (1)" Watercolor study of the female body to explore watercolor techniques, and personal reflection of ballet body metrics used in auditions.
Watercolor on Paper 15x20 cm "Audition (2)" Watercolor study of the female body to explore watercolor techniques, and personal reflection of ballet body metrics used in auditions.
Watercolor on Paper 15x20 cm "Audition (3)" Watercolor study of the female body to explore watercolor techniques, and personal reflection of ballet body metrics used in auditions.
When one door closes, another one opens.
All, if not most, little girls at some point in their lives dream of satin slippers and pink tutus. However, not all little girls who grow up in a family of hard science-based chemical engineers and doctors are determined to make it a reality.
From an early age, I knew I wanted to immerse myself professionally in the dance world as a ballerina. I was captivated by the athletic art form and everything ballet entailed. Engrained warm-up plié routines and allegro sequences came to me as naturally as breathing. My summers revolved around ballet intensives while weekends were spent in the studio. Twelve years of sleepless nights, competitive auditions, and painful sores were bearable only because I was so determined to reach my goal of joining a company like American Ballet Theatre NYC one day.
However, as high school progressed the weight of my future loomed, and balancing my priorities of art and academia was like pulling teeth. I began to desire something new—university. I had never given myself space to think of any other interest outside ballet. I was accepted to the Joffrey Ballet School my junior summer, one of the best schools in the world. An unexpected injury requiring meniscus knee repair and ACL reconstruction gave me a hard but unique opportunity to recalibrate my decisions. After months of doubt, I reached a conclusion.
When one door closes, another opens.
Declining Joffrey wasn’t the end. While it confirmed my love for dance, it also allowed me the freedom and time to realize other passions in my life such as the fine arts. Five-hour rehearsals turned into five-hour studio sessions. As my ballet journey winded down, my love for painting and fine arts blossomed.
I graduated in Visual Arts, Art History, and Markets and Management Studies from Duke University in 2023. Today I am a business student at Duke Fuqua School of Business.
I look back on these early works as an experience of self-exploration and reaching beyond my comfort zone. I grew an appreciation for new forms of art and its applied forms in business. My life has never been a straight path for me, and I realize now that it never always is nor has to be.
I still love dance.
And I still love charcoal, watercolor, and ink.