The photo book below contains images from Born x Raised’s legendary Sadie Hawkins event. This project was commissioned as a tribute to BxR founder and LA legend Chris “Spanto” Printup. I designed and fabricated the book in an edition of 7; the front and back covers are engraved gray mirrored acrylic. The 50 color photos are inkjet printed alongside a 40 page black & white riso section. The images (as well as the images of the book below) are by Vikram Valluri.
Identity Theft
Identity Theft is a book of orignal essays and interviews coupled with posters and various visual ephemera from my family history. Through extensive interviews with my dad about his immigration saga, I have extracted themes through the lens of a bicultural anxiety to produce prints on paper, canvas, and wax.
Tattoo History Book I wrote, designed, and fabricated this book outlining the history of tattooing from its Polynesian roots to present day styles and trends. There is a typography chapter that includes a plexi case with removable silicone swatches that I tattooed with American traditional, calligraphic, script, and new school lettering. Other chapters touch on the contested history of ‘freakshows’, the Japanese yakuza and irezumi, and tattooing’s crossover with the fine art world.
Four in All
The photo book shown below includes images of auto-rickshaw vinyl decals taken throughout the Andhra Pradesh region of South India. Interspersed with these images are photoshopped images of Bay Area vehicles emulating this style vernacular using “western” image motifs and clip-art. Seeing these images side-by-side highlights the glaring differences in the visual lived-experiences of these two cultures. The front and back covers are laser engraved acrylic with spraypaint accents.
Pocket Spirograph
These spirograph sets feature three “pages” of acrylic spirograph pieceswith clear plexi separating each compartment. The variation in shapes and sizes allows for a different drawing experience with every use. The shapes are based on a recursive process; I first used a classic spirograph set to create geometric circular drawings, then isolated organic images from these drawings and laser-cut them into their own set.
