Exploring Immigrant Identity through Art: A Conversation with Emerging Artist Nikita Yogaraj

Welcome to "The Truth in This Art." I'm your host, Rob Lee, and I’m thrilled to introduce our next guest: Nikita Yogaraj, an emerging artist, illustrator, and information designer with a background in public health. A Tamil Indian-American woman, her family immigrated from south India to the US when she was 3, and she grew up mostly in Houston, TX. She has been living in (and loving) Baltimore for the past 5 years ever since moving here for graduate school in public health. Her past design work has often been about making public health-related data & concepts accessible to a range of audiences, and her upcoming artistic work aims to explore through portraiture the sense of "place" and how its facets inform one's identity, particularly for brown people from first and second generation immigrant families.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Emerging Talent Specializing in Portraiture, Urban Landscapes, and Public Health Data Visualization. Join us as we dive into the captivating world of Nikita, where her artistic brilliance shines through various mediums, bringing life to portraits, urban scenes, and complex data visualizations with a unique touch of public health insights.
• The artistic endeavors of Nikita Yogaraj, a self-taught artist unaffiliated with any institution. Delve into the powerful themes that form the core of her work, as she beautifully captures the essence of immigrant identity through art, paving the way for meaningful conversations and reflections.
• Join us for an inspiring conversation with Nikita Yogaraj, an artist who finds her muse in the pages of literature, the melodies of music, and the wonders of nature. In this episode, we explore the magical sources that ignite her creativity and how she believes in nurturing artistic expression for a world filled with beauty and imagination.
• Embark on a journey with Nikita Yogaraj as she navigates the dynamic world of a multidisciplinary artist. Listen to her candid insights about the challenges she faces while finding her artistic niche and achieving a harmonious balance between her creative pursuits and her day job.
• The significance of being part of a vibrant creative community and supporting fellow artists. Discover her vision for a world where art thrives through collaboration, inspiration, and collective encouragement.

Join us in this enlightening episode as Nikita uses her art to communicate public health data and explore themes of immigrant identity. She is self-taught and not affiliated with any institution. Nikita discusses the challenges of being an artist, the importance of finding a niche, and the influence of literature and music on her creativity. She also emphasizes the importance of being part of a creative community and supporting fellow artists.

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Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

• Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
• Edited by Daniel Alexis
• Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

• Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
• Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

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