Pratiksha is an Austin, Texas based pop artist who specializes in creating large scale abstract artwork. When she was younger, her parents spent years trying to start a business around a board game that her father invented. The game never became successful. The hard work, determination and belief she was promised would lead to success in school contrasted with what she saw happen with her parents. Her senior year of high school her father was diagnosed with ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease. She quietly learned that not everything, or everyone, has a “story book ending.”
     Three years later, after her father passed, she started to question whether her time was being spent towards a life she was proud to live or if she was settling for comfortability. When she would visit her father in the hospital, she would notice that all the walls seemed bare and empty, making the experience feel sterile and cold. It is still something she can feel to this day - the smell disinfectants and medication walking through the hallways.
     Five years into a promising career, she made the decision to forge a different path and to have a bigger impact on those she encountered. There is distress and pain in life. That pain can also develop a deeper gratitude for things like color and warmth in life. It can show you an inner strength you never knew you had. That is why she embarked on a personal journey to support those who are going through difficult times with her art.