Bio
Annika (she/her) is a graphic designer, artist and mama of two. Annika got her start as a graphic designer in New York where she attended art school and lived for close to two decades before returning home to Boston, where she is now based.
At the center of Annika’s work is a desire to make visible everyday moments of human connection. Annika’s experience growing up second generation in suburban Boston often left her feeling “other”. Annika’s work is rooted in a longing for connection. She employs motifs, symbols, patterns and archetypes found in South Asian Indigenous art and Mughal miniature painting in her collages. By drawing over and around portraits of herself and others she explores ways she can enter South Asian paintings that feel both familiar and just out of reach. She is interested in where her work can intersect with experiences of colonialism, liberation and healing.
Artist Statement
Currently I am working on a series of self portraits, three of which I have submitted here. I started working on these collages while typesetting a young adult book titled Unbelonging. Inspired by the author’s memoir I decided to explore the effects of unbelonging in my own life. I found self portraits I had photographed in art school in my twenties and thirties and placed them within Mughal miniatures. In these collages I explore false narratives told to me by my parents who were struggling to belong, my own inner voice of doubt and the experience of IVF. The pain explored in each of these collages is something I share with countless woman. I hope to find healing, connection and growth in sharing this work.
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