Disha

Spring/Break 2025 ✨ “Black Soup” was an installation I created for my solo exhibition, anchored by my red and black painting “Dal Mein Kuch Kala Hai” —a Hindi idiom meaning “There’s something black in the soup.” It’s used when something feels suspicious. The full quote implies: maybe the whole soup is black. This work reflects a quiet unease—a tension between dream and lived reality. It speaks to migration, labor, and belonging, shaped by silent compromises and the invisible endurance needed to survive. The symbols I paint are inspired by the Rabari women of Kutch, a nomadic tribe from Gujarat, India. Their textiles, body language, and coded forms of storytelling deeply inform my own journey from India to the U.S., where I’ve learned that the systems that promise support often demand constant output just to stay afloat. A soup is meant to be warm and healing—but what if it begins to wear you down? What happens when the ideals we chase reveal their cracks? Black Soup doesn’t offer resolution. It holds space for discomfort, lingering in the in-between—between promise and reality, nourishment and distortion. Thank you @springbreakartshow and Diana Barillas (@lunadi82 ) for the invitation through @dtlaartnight . I’m honored to have shared this work in New York for the first time. ☺️✨🙏🏽 #springbreakartshow #dishaprajapati #dtlaartnight #nycartweek #nycartfair #blacksoup

May 6–12, 2025 | “Black Soup” 📍 SPRING/BREAK Art Show 75 Varick Street, New York, NY Thrilled to announce that @d.rection and @dtlaartnight will be presenting Black Soup at this year’s New York edition of @springbreakartshow : PARADISE LOST + FOUND. “Black Soup” is a visual offering by artist Disha Prajapati—a coded, symbolic body of work exploring the tension between illusion and truth, control and surrender. Drawing from mythology, migration, and feminine emotional labor, the work exists in a space between dream and deciphering. Each piece peels back the layers of a world both personal and political—where symbols become stories, and stories become spells. More details soon.✨ Poster design: @wearedone.801 Artwork: @d.rection #BlackSoup #DishaPrajapati #dtlaartnight #springbreakartshow #springbreakartshow2025 #paradiselostandfound #nycartweek #nyartfair #friezeweek

Join me tomorrow at @adidasoriginals in DTLA for a special night of art & creativity! 🎨👟 I’ll be unveiling my newest painting and two custom Adidas shoes, sharing the inspiration behind them. Plus, one of the shoes will be raffled off—so pull up for a chance to win! See you there! ☺️✨💙

Grateful to everyone who came to BASTA at the @bendixbuilding in support of @innercityarts It meant so much to share my work in conversation with amazing artist Francisco Tapia. ( @tempotapz ) Here’s a short overview of the show and my process. See more work at: dishastudio.com

One Way In, Same Way Out 2026 Oil on canvas 60 × 50 in Part of an ongoing Maze Series, this painting draws from labyrinth forms carved into stone across regions of India, some dating back nearly 2,500 to 3,000 years. These forms closely resemble Kolam, a sacred geometric drawing tradition practiced primarily by women in South India. Traditionally created at the thresholds of homes using rice flour or limestone powder, Kolam designs function both as ritual and protection. The patterns are believed to repel or ensnare negative forces while honoring the Naga, the serpent deity associated with fertility, protection, and life force. Composed as a single continuous path, the labyrinth operates as both structure and metaphor. Its inward spiral suggests movement through uncertainty toward a center, reflecting broader themes of migration, orientation, and belonging. The work also connects to my ongoing exploration of the Kutch Rabari community of western India, a nomadic culture whose visual language, including embroidery, tattoos, and symbolic markings, carries protective and cosmological meanings passed through generations of women. Like Kolam, these traditions hold knowledge of movement, memory, and place. In this context, the labyrinth becomes both an ancestral symbol and a contemporary map, tracing cycles of migration, displacement, and return. Kolam drawings are temporary. They are erased by footsteps, wind, and time and are drawn again the following day. In this cycle of making and disappearance, the form sustains a quiet practice of renewal and balance. #mazeseries

BASTA. Thank you to everyone who came and witnessed this show. The energy, conversations, and support meant everything. Special thanks to the @bendixbuilding and @innercityarts for supporting this exhibition. If you are still interested in purchasing artwork from the show, please reach out to me directly. And if you would still like to support Inner-City Arts, donations can be made through their website. Huge thank you to my fellow artist @tempotapz , @collinreeve and @highervisioncreativecontent for bringing the production and installation to life, and my manager @jaylavizion.jpg for believing in me and supporting me throughout. Thank you @sierra__lorraine for running the Paint & Sip, and to everyone who came out and painted with us. Grateful for this community. More coming soon. Stay tuned.✨❤️🧿

Very happy to announce “BASTA” 🗣️ Quiet resilience in the present moment A group exhibition at the Bendix Building during Frieze Week Los Angeles, featuring works by emerging artists of DTLA alongside student work from Inner-City Arts. Opening Reception Feb 26 | 6-10 PM Free to attend An evening of art, conversation, wine, and a beautiful view of downtown. During the exhibition we’ll also be hosting three Paint & Sip fundraiser sessions (7-9 PM) with different themes exploring abstraction, expression, and response to the present moment. All materials included. Tickets available through the link in bio or by scanning the QR code on the flyer. If you’d like to further support Inner-City Arts and the incredible work they’ve been doing for underserved youth for decades, you can donate directly using the QR code on the last slide. So excited for this collaboration and to share this space with all of you. Hope to see you there.☺️✨ #BASTA #FriezeWeekLA #DTLAart #PaintAndSip #mysecretla

digitals.. 📸 @gagik_petrosyan_

Watch me finish this painting.🌸 I See / You Saw 48 x 36 in Acrylic on Canvas 2026

This night felt like a full circle 🔴 paint on hands, words from the heart, music in the body. I’m grateful for every person who trusted this space enough to express themselves, to share their headspace through poetry, and to move freely together. Your support keeps the fire in an artist’s heart burning. Ending the year surrounded by energies that feel like home reminds me why community matters. I’ve learned so much this year, and I’m ready to step into the next one with clearer intentions, stronger roots, and more ways to support each other instead of tearing each other down. Thank you @libro_libre_ , @gee.nu , @huseinberg @collinreeve and everyone who came thru for helping make this night pure magic ✨

A night for the lovers of words, music, and painting, a gentle place to lay your heart down and let it speak. Come share your truth with us, whether through poetry, brushstrokes, or the movement of your body. I’m bringing a collaboration close to my heart: a poetic offering by @libro_libre_ , and a soundscape by @_gee.nu the quiet myth who whispers beauty into darkness Come on this journey w us Dec 19 • 6-10 PM • Studio 216, DTLA Ticket link in bio✨

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the Halloween Sip & Paint @studio216.dtla and expressed both their darkness and light with us.🕷️✨ It was beautiful witnessing everyone create, laugh, release, and embody their inner chaos + magic. A special thanks to my talented friend & artist @__iam9am for blessing the night with his new music release and live performance, thank you for creating and sharing your world with us. A cute thank you to our spinner @huseinberg for putting out some sick tunes and keeping the energy alive all night. And last, but definitely not least, thank you @pixelpropaganda for always showing up, helping me behind the scenes, and being an incredible mentor and friend. Photos by @jaylavizion.jpg 📸🖤 Next event on Dec 19, see you there folks 🥀 #studio216 #dtlaevents #sipandpaint #halloweenartparty