We were lucky to catch up with Apeksha Lal recently and have shared our conversation below.
Apeksha, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
My parents were always supportive of my creative endeavors as a child. Whenever I created something, they’d show it off to everyone. Even if I thought I had created the most mediocre work of art, they would treat every single of my drawings and paintings like they would a painting at the Louvre. They got them framed, sent pictures of them to all of our family and inquired about my process and intent with every piece. The walls in my parent’s home in India are an archive of my creative journey, a living and breathing gallery full of the things I’ve created over the years – from pencil drawings I created as a child, to the realistic landscapes I created as I was developing technical skills in high school, to the much more sophisticated paintings I create now. Their unwavering support helped me build confidence in my own work and realize that I wanted to be a working artist. When I finally committed to Illustration at Parsons School of Design in my senior year of high school, I had an emotional moment with my dad that I will always remember. As I was debating where to go for college, unsure if art school was the path I should even be on, I showed him all of my acceptance letters, and he told me about how proud he was that I pursued something that I really loved doing and kept working on it. I had always had doubts that my parents would’ve liked to see me pursue something that would have provided me with more stability, but hearing my dad say that he was proud of me, with tears in both of our eyes, was the most reaffirming moment of my life. Though my parents aren’t artists professionally, I’d seen them get really excited about creative projects that they did in their free time. Growing up, I watched my mother decorate our floors with colored powder and paint for Diwali and doodle here and there on her to-do lists, whereas my dad took a very strong interest in photography and capturing little moments in our lives as well as some beautiful pictures of nature. I know that in many South Asian families it can be uncommon to get that kind of support for creative passions — because we are expected to support our parents in their retirement years, and financial stability and successful careers are really emphasized in our upbringing. But I am fortunate and extremely grateful to my parents for allowing me to be ambitious and letting me take risks. Even now, I ask them for feedback and critique on projects I’m working on, because I really value their opinion as they have seen my artistic journey from the very start and witnessed my growth. I am definitely not the first artist in my family, I’m just the first person who had the opportunity, the privilege and the education to pursue a creative career, and I owe it all to my parents’ support and their hard work in providing me a comfortable life where I am allowed to explore my creative potential to the fullest.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Apeksha Lal and I’m a South Asian illustrator based in New York City. My practice involves painting, relief printmaking, and digital illustration. I started off by creating a lot of artwork about my experiences as a first-generation immigrant in America, but this year I have really been playing around with elements of horror and fantasy in my art. I also do editorial illustration in conjunction with personal work.
I’m really interested in the intersection of illustration and fine art and how they can work together. When I draw digitally on a screen, I love incorporating textures like ball point pen, pencil, canvas, or paper grain. When I paint, I tend to use less abstract imagery and follow a more narrative structure.
My most recent project was a series of paintings exploring envy/jealousy. Though we have negative connotations with the word (it is one of the seven deadly sins, after all!), envy isn’t always a bad thing to have. I was really interested in exploring the self-destructive nature of malignant envy, and decided to create uncanny horror scenes with this theme in mind. Everyone feels envy to some degree, and my goal with this project was to create a space for self-reflection and confrontation for the viewer.
My mission as an illustrator is to communicate a feeling or a story, and I accomplish this by creating work that I am passionate about, implementing feedback from my mentors, peers and friends along the way, incorporating skills that I have learned at school and by closely observing the work of artists I admire. I believe that part of being an artist is to constantly improve, learn and grow, and that my art will continue to blossom as I grow older.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I think the best resource that we artists have is our community. Everyone has valuable insight that they are totally willing to share. Until recently, I didn’t realize that I could very easily reach out to other artists, through their email or social media. I was afraid of contacting people out of nowhere, but what I’ve learned from talking to other artists this past year is that everyone loves to connect with new people and introduce them to even more people. I also love going to events such as NYABF and MoCCA Fest, where I can meet a ton of artists in person and inquire about their work and their process, and get really inspired. I have learned so much from just talking to new people, and I believe it’s something everyone should take advantage of! Even if I am talking to non-illustrators, I often find that other creatives have some really interesting ideas and there are always opportunities to collaborate.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
There are so many rewarding aspects of being an artist. I think of art as an upward journey – your art can only get better and better. When I look back at my art from a few years ago, or even a couple months ago, so much has changed and I see so much improvement in my work and it feels really good.
My time at art school has also helped me become part of this tight-knit artist community where we help each other. I have friends, professors and peers who continually give me constructive feedback, share industry connections and professional advice, and share our creations with each other. In a world where so many things can be so easily mass-produced, it feels really special to be a part of a group of people who each create something unique and one-of-a-kind. I own a lot of things created by my artist friends, and I treasure and cherish every single one of them.
It’s also really rewarding to see other people respond to your work. It’s very affirming to see people understand your intent, see the world through your eyes by looking at your art, and point out the details that you spend time on.
And finally, I think the most rewarding aspect of it all is how much I enjoy creating. I have so much love for illustration, and I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. From finding inspiration and influences, to the ideation, the process, the revisions, and the final products, planning future projects — all of it brings me immense joy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://apekshalal.com
- Instagram: apxksha
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apeksha-lal-628487201/
Image Credits
Apeksha Lal