What is girlhood to you?

What is girlhood to you?

Kulkarni, Tanvi

My painting process is rooted in a keen interest in emotion and observing moments of relation to build narrative. My oil paintings begin with a prompt or idea—which can be detailed or simply a feeling I want to capture—that helps me explore composition, subject matter and technique. Whether it’s through creating a collage or transforming an ordinary moment into something compelling through the painting process, my work highlights connection and ordinary life. My recent paintings feature people having a personal experience, sometimes mediated by external media such as a book or a film. My paintings depict private moments experienced in public settings. I’m especially drawn to the complexity and emotion that interacting figures bring to a composition. Capturing a likeness is a careful and intimate process, which transforms the relationship between myself and the subject. Above all, my purpose as a painter is for my work to touch on intimate interpersonal experiences—whether through color, imagery or simply an elicited feeling.

2026