Nishka Baliga

“What is your favorite artwork?”

Curatorial Rationale

My theme for my artwork exhibition is longing. I created all of my artworks with the idea of longing and how it manifests in relationships between people, with a focus on how it could affect oneself. I was drawn to this theme after I thought about how longing is a complex human emotion that could lend itself to interesting portrayals in artworks, since it isn’t as clearly defined as the standard, general human emotions, like happiness or sadness. Many relationships, even relationships with oneself, are strained due to one longing for something to change. The artworks in my exhibition serve to ask the viewers what they long for in their life to change and potentially resonate with some of the different hypothetical manifestations of longing portrayed in my artworks.

I was inspired mainly by my own experiences and expressed them in the meanings of each artwork. Throughout my exhibition, I experimented with a variety of mediums and techniques in order to accomplish my visions for my theme. I found that in many cases, mixed media projects best incorporated the techniques that I wanted to use because they added a variety of textures and layers to my artworks that emphasized the subject matter. For example, one of my artworks incorporates alcohol based marker drawing on paper, but with textile flower stickers as a three dimensional element on top. In other artworks, I used acrylic paint and alcohol based marker drawing together. I also experimented with digital media through creating digital artworks with a digital art program. A useful technique for digital art was using blurring and smudging tools to create a unique look for the backgrounds of my artworks, creating depth and more interesting texture. It also brought emphasis to the main subjects of my artworks, allowing the viewer to better feel the subjects’ feelings. My favorite medium to experiment with was gouache, as it was a new medium to me, but it quickly became an effective medium for my artworks with it being a mix of watercolor and acrylic paint. I was inspired to experiment with this medium because of the famous Gouache artist Thomas Moran. The consistency of Gouache allowed me to seamlessly blend colors and add watery effects.

My exhibition includes six framed artworks on various paper materials and two canvas panel artworks. To create a symmetrical and balanced exhibition, I decided to make the canvas panel artworks at the ends of either side of the exhibition. I made most of my artworks centered around the feminine perspective to especially resonate with my female audience, that would most relate to my own experiences that I incorporated into the meaning of these artworks. I hope that the audience understands that longing is a nuanced emotion that isn’t as clearly defined, but has the capacity to truly resonate with the core parts of the human experience. Longing differs from the simplicity of desire or the urgency of necessity, it’s a combination of a range of emotions that in total create a sense of incompleteness in oneself due to the realities of their interpersonal relationships. 


Nishka’s Art Work

  • Longing Last Night's Blissful Dream, 2024

    Acrylic Paint on Canvas

    25 x 36 cm

    I was inspired by an oil painting called “Dreamy” by Shelley Meyers, which depicted abstract but soft waves/swirls, which I wanted to capture in my painting. My painting depicts a person who just woke up, trying to reach a dream that is escaping from her. This was based off of an experience of mine where I had a wonderful dream that I badly wanted to remain in, but the details of the dream seemed to dissolve as I woke up. I used a combination of cool and warm colors for this piece.

  • Parking Lot Blues, 2024

    Digital Art on Ibis Paint X

    29 cm x 39 cm

    My intentions for this artwork were to depict an experience based off one of my own in which I sat on a wall outside the parking complex in an outlet mall alone, and started to have bittersweet thoughts, where the heat of the summer was washed out by my longing. I wanted the focus to be on the dissatisfied expression of the subject who longs for something more than a parking lot, perhaps someone else to sit there too, rather than just her and her phone.

  • Falling Behind, 2023

    Alcohol Marker, White Gel Pen, Color Pencil, on Bristol Paper

    27.9 x 35.5 cm

    I was inspired by the trees turning orange and red in our school’s quad, and it made me think of how some other trees are evergreen and would never change colors. I decided to make one “fall” tree in a dense forest of evergreen trees to represent the feeling of “falling behind” (everyone else seems to be always green, whilst losing one's leaves) and longing to be like the rest of the evergreen forest. The pine trees usually grow in clusters, but the central maple tree is alone, like the subject.

  • “Oh, Table for One?”, 2023

    Gouache on Watercolor Paper

    38 x 45 cm

    This artwork is illustrating the idea of sitting at a café by oneself, while longing for another to be sitting at the table too. I used a cool color scheme to portray this longing. The phone has a lockscreen lacking a photo of loved ones and “no new notifications” to represent the subject’s longing for connection. The time being 11:11 represents wishing for this to change. The second plate is big and empty, as the waiter erroneously thought two people were going to sit at this table.

  • “As the petals fall”, 2023

    Alcohol-based marker, white gel pen, and textile sticker on Bristol paper

    27.9 x 35.5 cm

    I wanted to portray my theme of longing in an artwork with a person with a somber expression holding a twig that is drooping, with flower petals falling off it. However, this experience is romanticized through the lens of a pretty flower petal scene. I made it a mixed media project by using alcohol-based markers and using purchased textured fabric stickers cut in flower shapes to put on top for a slight 3D effect. I used a cool color scheme to fit the theme of longing.

  • A Cat’s Longing, 2023

    Gouache on Watercolor Paper

    23 cm x 30.5 cm

    My dad told me a story about a cat he loved very much, but it got sick. He tried to drop the cat off in a secluded area to peacefully rest, miles away. Each day the cat would walk all the way back, only for it to be dropped off again by him. One day, it never came back. I was touched and inspired by this, so I painted a girl with a cat, satisfying the cat’s longing to be with an owner. I was inspired by Gouache artist Thomas Moran to paint with gouache for the first time for this piece.

  • The young long to be older, The old long to be younger, 2024

    Acrylic paint on canvas

    35.5 x 28 cm

    Children tend to long to become an adult to have more control over their lives, romanticizing adult responsibilities. However, adults often long to be young again to avoid these same responsibilities, having simpler days and the joys of being youthful. I depicted this phenomenon by having an adult look at her younger self, while the younger self looks literally back “up” to the adult self, representing a dynamic between these versions of ourselves in which we always long for what we don’t have.

  • Longing at a Lake, 2024

    Digital Art on Ibis Paint x
    51.9 cm x 52.6 cm


    The subject is sitting at the shore of a lake on a cold, windy day. The single koi fish visible is the happiness “under the surface”. The subject is feeling blue, reflected by the blueish tint her skin has. This is longing to be the colorful, swimming fish she once was.