Leaving The World Behind, oil paint and fabric on unstretched canvas, 31 x 41 in., 2018. This painting is part of my "Interwoven Histories" series. A series of tapestry styled paintings, which are the recounting of different stories and moments from my family’s history, being expressed simultaneously. I incorporate fabric taken from traditional sari dresses into parts of the imagery, which not only references my cultural heritage, but also acts as an inhibiter, preventing the viewer from fully seeing the detail of the painting underneath. This relates back to the struggle we have recalling our own memories and wanting to remember something more clearly but being physically unable to do so. My family’s collective memories are a diluted combination of thoughts, feelings, and events and are not an accurate account of reality, which I find to be very fascinating. I take this already distorted account of reality and further reimagine it in my own mind, creating my own fabricated memory or story represented through painting.