DVAA Member since 2026

Sahiti Bonam

WEBsite: sahitibonam.com

instagram:

About:

"Sahiti" means Literature
Sahiti is a Telugu-American artist, designer, cultural worker with the all encompassing drive to produce “visual literature”.

During the day, she is a project manager contributing to the ever-growing public art scene in the “mural capital of the world” aka Philadelphia at Mural Arts. Her after hours consist of multidisciplinary creativity and consumption, to experiment and discover ways of expressing portraiture, gazes, surrealism, magical realism, space, culture, language, and more.

Sahiti has a BA in Visual Studies (December’18) and an MA in Art History and Arts Management (May’23) from the Tyler School of Art & Architecture at Temple University.

Artist Statement:

My artistic focus over the past couple of years has been exploring elements of gazes and portraiture with expressions, surrealism, and magical realism, while incorporating my personal and cultural aspects, such as plants that I adore. I like to delve into South Indian visual motifs, structures, and ideas as that is something I normally don’t see in the Philadelphian art scene. 


Lately, I’ve been honing my craft with the South Indian art form, Tanjore Painting. Originating from Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu, this art form is usually to depict deities and is found in many South Indian households. I was fortunate to learn Tanjore Painting over a decade ago in highschool, when I lived in Hyderabad. I’ve observed that this art form hasn’t been pushed into a contemporary style, therefore I’m determined to make that happen. My goal through a modernized approach of Tanjore Painting is to complement my subject of eyes and expressions through whimsical and surrealistic imagery.