Rohan Iyengar

My name is Rohan Iyengar. I am a rising freshman at UMass Amherst. Art is my happy place. From getting my hands dirty on a potter’s wheel to transforming a blank canvas into a painting, art is where I seek and find my calm. Art is also the medium through which I care for myself and maintain my mental well-being. It has helped me get through the difficult, isolated times of the Covid-19 pandemic. I hope you enjoy my work. 1. My love of Boston and its skyline began when I moved to Newton as a two-year-old. Over the years, my dad, who works in Cambridge, would occasionally take me to his workplace. En route, we would park along the banks of the Charles River to take in the views. I would marvel at the beauty of the city as it wore different looks with changing seasons. This series of 12 acrylic paintings of the Boston skyline showcases changing seasons and events, past and present, with each painting displaying a month of the year. A 2024 calendar of my paintings is the culmination of that work. 2. Ceramics is my favorite medium. It is a trying yet forgiving medium and I find tremendous joy in creating objects of beauty or utility out of a lump of clay. 3. My AP-3D art project. For my sustained investigation, I set out to describe how capitalism affects our lives and the lives of others in varying degrees. While I feel that Capitalism, as an economic system, has boosted economies and enabled social mobility to some degree, it has also allowed a small portion of people to consolidate billions of dollars while others live in abject poverty. I started my project with a goal of expressing my ideas through ceramics, later drawing inspiration from both utilitarian and decorative vessels to communicate my ideas. From plates, jars, to vases, all of my pieces represent ideas that can be found in an average household, with visuals reminding one of how the effects of capitalism are present in their everyday lives.