My name is Aakash Mali, an Indian visual artist (b.1999). I make paintings, drawings and collages. After graduating from high school, I studied Interior Design at CEPT University, Ahmedabad. Design schooling was a starting point to provide me exposure to the fine art discipline. I started to develop my visual vocabulary inspired from Kota Paintings and spent my time creating The Sikar series - advocating animal hunting. In Covid, the paintings started appearing to be more surrealistic. My inspiration mainly stems from surroundings, dreams, nightmares, poetry and music. I like my paintings to be dynamic and have lyrical quality to it, as if they are constantly evolving. At the first glance my art might appear to be quite playful and dramatic, but one can also witness the depth of emotion, hidden stories, and unspoken narratives.