Daana Pani

Sometimes, life whispers to you in old sayings, the kind nani murmurs over a cup of chai as the world goes about its business. This painting is just that. A blank canvas, a brush so fine it feels like painting with air, and an idea so alive it refuses to sit still. The strokes mimic grains of rice, swirling in patterns that are part movement, part memory, and part map. Daana Pani, Ann Jal—a phrase that says your path will always cross the food you’re meant to eat, the water you’re meant to drink.

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This piece found its way to the walls of the BBC in White City, and later to the Holy Art Gallery in London. But most importantly, it found its way into the quiet corners of my heart. And there, it swirls, endlessly, like life itself.

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Thank you, Professor Luke, for helping it find its way. And thank you to a year that gave me more than I knew how to ask for.

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Shift

Shift is an 8 x 8-foot installation made of rotating cubes and cuboids. Each face carries part of an illustration. Turn one block and the image changes. Turn them all, and a new mural appears. Leave a few untouched, and you get a mix—part pattern, part accident.

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Originally created just after design school, this version is more refined. I’ve added variation in scale—some blocks are bigger, some smaller—to open up new visual rhythms. It’s designed to be played with. Moved. Rearranged. It’s not precious.

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What starts as a painting becomes a sculpture. What begins as a mural becomes a tool for interaction. The piece invites people to slow down, explore, and shift the space—literally—with a single spin. At its core, Shift is about change. Small movements creating new perspectives. A reminder that transformation can be simple, even fun.