For her February 27 exhibition, senior Sreja Vallem invited visitors into a space that was as much a private memory as a public gallery. The show, titled “I Can’t Touch People with Feet,” was a sensory exploration of the delicate negotiation of growing up in the Indian diaspora.
By Amelia De Leon
Upon arrival at The Frame Gallery, visitors were met with a request that immediately stripped away the standard gallery experience: Please remove your shoes.
Senior Sreja Vallem aimed to recreate the private atmosphere of an Indian American home during social gatherings as a way to explore her own resistance to these expectations. By forcing guests to participate in this domestic ritual, Vallem mirrored the ordinary tension she has felt for two decades: being simultaneously at home and out of place in suburban Indian America. The space was designed to feel both disorienting and familiar, much like the experience of an immigrant child navigating a chit party or a puja.
As a child, Vallem disliked the tradition, largely because she found feet “simply gross.” Even as an adult, she describes herself as “existing somewhere in the between,” trying to understand the traditions that shaped her while never being able to fully arrive in either Indian or American culture.
The exhibition showcased a diverse range of mediums, including sculptures, paintings, and textiles. Vallem’s artistic practice moves between two distinct directions: visual experimentation with Hindu deities and supernatural narratives, and personal works rooted in childhood memories of everyday objects like towels and chairs.
In this space, Vallem creates a space where ritual becomes surreal, and humor brushes against discomfort. The works neither fully reject tradition nor fully embrace it. Instead, they linger in the “space between affection and confusion,” where the body reflexively remembers a custom even when the mind is uncertain of the belief behind it.
More from Sreja Vallem | @valley_of_sea
Amelia De Leon is a sophomore pursuing a BFA in the School of Art. Follow her at @ameliadeleonn.