Shreya Sahai is a visual artist from Delhi, India, with a background in art, literature, theatre, film, and Hindustani classical music.
After graduating from school, she took two years off to work as a writer for the Times of India, an actor and educator at the Barry John Acting Studio (Delhi), and a writer-editor-translator for IYCWorld. Her directorial debut Starboy (2020), filmed in one room with a primary cast of one and crew of two, made it to the top 100 list at India Film Project’s 50 Hour Film Challenge Season IX.
In 2022, she graduated from Amity University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and from the International Center of Photography’s Creative Practices programme. She graduated from ICP’s Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism programme this summer. She is currently based in New York.
Distant Edens is a synthesis of terrestrial flora's timeless beauty with the extraordinary world of extraterrestrial life, as portrayed in pop culture. Blurring the boundaries between our earthly landscapes and cosmic mysteries, it explores the possibility of life beyond our planet through familiar forms in otherworldly hues. The format of the images is a callback to the dimensions of a microscope slide. The imagery is also a reflection of the emotional complexities of being an immigrant in the United States. New York City is now cast as an enigmatic 'alien' city, flipping the old narrative on its head. This body of work invites viewers to contemplate both the wonders of the universe and the notions of 'belonging'.