sāgar’s work intends to disrupt—to question. through the radical acceptance of multiplicities, the embracing of numerous identities coexisting, sāgar continues to defy linear constructions of time and binaries. he continually finds himself in moments of transition, creating art which moves within the performative/kinetic space of uncertainty. using humor and beauty, sāgar’s intention is to challenge and investigate the lasting impacts of colonization in relation to his own displacement as a Brown body in the American diaspora. 

 

sāgar's work draws from his identities to create worlds of joyous chaos—appropriating aspects of Indian folk and classical art and dance in contrast with his existence as a Western-based and brought-up artist. as an artist pulled between these spheres, sāgar’s work accepts the nature of being in liminal spaces both through culture and identity. sāgar’s practice is rooted in painting and drawing, but extends to collage, performance, sculpture, sound, photography, video, and ceramics. his interest in cross-genre experimentation continues to evolve his practice into different mediums and modes of creating. 

 

central to sāgar’s design philosophy is the reliance on lines, which are used to create space, to define characters, and to record movement. his background in Kathak dance has developed a relationship between body mechanics, spatial awareness, and rhythm that drive his work in and out of a theatrical context. the work could serve as backdrops for plays, as character studies, as rhythmical notation, or as research notes. 

 

sāgar’s practice frequently builds metaphors to connect his experience in the diaspora to the natural world. he draws parallels between his identities and ecology, his work absorbing his continuous uncertainties and anxieties of the climate crisis. by using materials such as bamboo and banana leaves to highlight the connection of migration and entropy, sāgar creates paintings and sculptures that travel fluidly through space and experience the passage of time through decay.

 

sāgar’s process of making work is driven by research, pop culture, and geographical context. he relies on the guidance of his intuitive mark making to conjure movement, characters, and landscapes. the worlds inside the work depict (un)realities, often serving as utopian backgrounds emerging from cataclysmic events. intentionally, these worlds are constructed as transitional spaces, hidden in glitches, containing moments of magic explored through the relationship between digital and physical interactions.

 

sāgar’s art education began at a young age with his father and continued through his time at Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12. sāgar received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and his Master of Fine Arts in Multidisciplinary Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Mount Royal School of Art. sāgar has had exhibitions and performances in Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and Washington DC. In May 2023, sāgar was invited as an Artist in Residence to build a series of sculptures for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art’s Centennial Celebration in Washington D.C.