Parita M. Shah

Parita M. Shah was born in Southfield, Michigan to parents of Indian origin. The family shifted to Marion, Ohio, and traveled often to Gujarat, India. Parita began using drawing, painting, music, and photography to express her voice during those formative years. In 2009, Parita graduated from high school in Columbus, Ohio and enrolled as a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, acquiring her Bachelors of Fine Arts in 2012, with a focus in printmaking. Traveling back to India in 2018, this time to Tamil Nadu, Parita spent one year in residency at Auroville Papers during which she began incorporating papermaking and bookmaking into her work.

Parita’s creative works are inspired by her cross-cultural life, growing up as a part of the Immigrant Community living in the Midwest United States. Her inspirations include the Midwestern and South Asian ecology, architecture, people, and customs, as well as the creative techniques/ media used in these regions, and history. The images and symbols depicted in the works are taken from moments of happiness, peace, gratitude, and acknowledgement of the complexity, mystery, and magic of existence. Parita utilizes the creative process to explore these experiences from her life, free from anxiety and social pressure, to bring forth her own feelings and perspectives. Parita invites the viewer to create their own emotional narratives with her works.

Living and working in Chicago, Parita creates works in various media including intaglio printmaking, papermaking, bookmaking, drawing, and photography.