This collection of oil paintings was born from my recent travels to Rishikesh, India — a city globally romanticized as a sanctuary of peace, yet quietly unraveling under the weight of western consumption. This work questions who pays the price when tradition is paved over in the name of progress.
As a white traveler, I carry the echo of colonial footsteps, privilege wrapped in spiritual hunger. These works sit in the space between reverence and guilt; human imperfection and the aspiration of enlightenment. They are an observation of spiritual tourism that too often ignores the systems it feeds. Oil allowed me to hold this tension. The light of devotion tangled with the greys of concrete dust. To layer beauty and discomfort.
I hope this collection offers the viewer a moment of gratitude and emotional release. An invitation to be present with the beauty that is here now.