Diya Srivastava
Illustration by Diya Srivastava // Published November 27th, 2023
✺ For Coalesce, Issue 6
Diya Srivastava (she/her/any) is a junior majoring in Cognitive Science and Communication. You can find her on Instagram @_k4jal.
“I’ve been making art since I can remember. I’m inspired as an artist by Yoshitaka Amano, Leyendecker, Arthur Rachkam, and many others. I am Indian-American, and I am deeply intertwined with my culture and mythology. I used to read Amar Chitra Kathas (Indian Comics) growing up, so intrinsically, my culture reflects in my craft.”
Artist Statement: This artwork is reminiscent of the Indian/Hindu belief in rebirth. I vividly remember the haunting image as I walked around a Hindu temple as an adolescent: many visages of the same man, walking up to his birth and death in an endless circle. I find it poignant that one can walk across the world, seeing many faces in others; maybe their face, maybe their mother's. Sometimes, I walk across campus and feel like I recognize a face from my high school days or see a glimpse of a memory tucked behind my conscience. This art piece is meant to reflect how we see ourselves and support ourselves through each stage of life, how each coalesces into who we are in the present. The lady on the right is the oldest version, the woman on the left is the middle, and the embryo in the center represents our most vulnerable being. Art is supposed to shed light on the unsaid. I prefer a painterly working style because it has a certain sense, an impression, a familiarity. I think it reflects the emotion deep within us, the want to understand ourselves.
