cuny, Hunter College – new york city
Bachelor’s Degree – Art History
The Borough of Manhattan Community College
Associate’s Degree – Writing and Literature
Bio
Growing up in a biracial home, English was not my parents’ primary language. My mother immigrated to the United States from Mexico, and my father from Pakistan. I am the first generation of my family to be born in America. This created an unforeseen distance between us.
Learning English in school, I cultivated different ways of expressing myself. This made communication difficult because my parents and I could not relate on certain topics. Majoring in Writing and Literature, I pursued the English language as a way of encouraging myself to surpass the difficulties my parents had. I underwent the liberation of expressing myself and showed my parents how to do the same with a new language.
However, I realized that pieces of art revealed a deeper form of communication for me to explore. From here, I decided to receive my Bachelors in Art History where I focused on de-coding motifs, symbols and signs artists use to portray hidden messages.
During my bachelors, I took historical classes of photography in hopes of learning a hobby I picked up at age 17. I discovered Bill Brandt, Man Ray, Edward Ruscha, Barbara Kruger, Frank Kappa, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Edward Steichen, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Henry Peach Robinson. I felt a connection to how these artists portrayed the world around them politically, aesthetically, and artistically. Having been a photographer myself, I was able to relate to the feelings these photographers portrayed along with the intention behind every photograph. My photography is an expression of who I am, what I see and the world around me.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Recipient of the Jacqueline Schiller Fund Scholarship August 2021 — Issued by The Jacqueline Schiller Fund established by The New York Community Trust to provide scholarships to CUNY students in the fields of literature and history (this includes language and art history majors) who are among the best and brightest and who demonstrate financial need.
Recipient of the Community College Partnership Scholarship April 2021 —Issued by Joseph Fantozzi Jr. Director of Recruitment and First Year Scholarships Undergraduate Admissions and Recruitment recognizing hard work and dedication to academic excellence within CUNY’s undergrad students.
Recipient of Merit from December 2020 — Issued by The Borough of Manhattan Community College Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Erwin J. Wong recognizing student Merit.
