Divya Balivada

Black and white portrait of a young woman smiling at the camera. She has straight, shoulder-length hair parted to the side and is wearing a V-neck top. The background shows textured lighting on a plain wall, likely from sunlight filtering through blinds.
A vibrant, ceremonial picnic titled Behind The Seen brings together food, textiles, handwritten memories, and symbolic objects. Surrounded by collaborators Ananya, Divya, Jess, Nasrah, Shythira, and Zahra, this gathering becomes a living archive of shared stories, ritual, and care. Neon and traditional elements converge, revealing unseen layers of identity, belonging, and feminine intimacy in public space.

About

Divya Balivada is an Indian painter based in London. Through intuitive drawing, she explores the folds of time embedded in generational trauma and fragmented identity. She investigates the cyclical nature of memory and history, which is specific to moments but stretches across generations. Their inheritance and residence in the body and subconscious are central to her practice. Manifesting through emotions and behavioural responses, trauma reveals the silent architecture of loss and survival.