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Really excited to be part of Living Landscapes: Ecology of Rasa, an ambitious three-night immersive experience at the USC Pacific Asia Museum @usc_pam November 19–21 led by visionary artist @gautam_rangan

What makes this project especially meaningful to me is how it weaves together so many of the worlds I’ve inhabited and loved throughout my life: Indian classical music and dance, poetry, electronica, technology, visual art, and sculpture. These forms aren’t presented alongside one another so much as placed into conversation, creating an environment where sound, movement, language, image, and space can reshape how we experience each other.

Inspired by 16th-century Ragamala paintings, Living Landscapes explores the idea of rasa, the emotional worlds that art creates and that we experience together.

I’m grateful to be contributing tabla to the performance program, working with composer Aashray Harishankar @escapistmusic , the extraordinary Arpana Dance Company, and multidisciplinary artist Gautam Rangan, in collaboration with Kaya Press @kayapress ❤️

And on opening night, November 19, another one of my worlds enters the conversation. SADUBAS @sadubas , featuring longtime friend and collaborator Ameet Mehta @ameet3000 , will perform a special ambient set as audiences explore the installation, blending live tabla, electronic soundscapes, cinematic projection, and Bollywood psychedelia.

That continuum means a lot to me: tabla as an ancient rhythmic language, but also as a living technology. Classical dance alongside interactive projection. Poetry inhabiting sculpture and space. Electronica in dialogue with traditions that stretch back centuries.

This is where I love to be: between forms, between histories, between the classical and the experimental, seeing what becomes possible when they meet.

Grateful to USC Visions and Voices @uscvandv and the USC Pacific Asia Museum for creating space for this kind of interdisciplinary imagination.

November 19–21 | USC Pacific Asia Museum
Free and open to all. RSVP Tickets available at https://visionsandvoices.usc.edu Come wander inside this world with us.

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(IG cropped the 1st photo wrongly 🥲)
16 years overdue LA reunion! ❤️ So good to see everyone again. Thank you for showing up, and more importantly, for being friends all these years. Miss you guys already!

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Last week, I joined the mathematics faculty at Princeton University. It’s definitely exciting to join a legendary department that’s hosted/currently hosts so many of my heroes. I recently found out my office used to belong to John Conway!

This also means I left my position at Caltech and moved out of Pasadena. Neither was easy (I mostly mean emotionally lol but it was also a nightmare logistically which is my excuse for not posting recently!). Tbh, I had my reservations about coming to Caltech. Moving from NYC, I was worried it would be too quiet or feel too one-dimensional. But I loved every second of being on campus. It’s a space I just felt *good* in. And I’ve found the people, particularly in the math department, have a pure, unpretentious love for what they do. I miss my lovely, not-so-little office and my chalkboard very much. I have a lot of clips from that office so you’ll still see it in future vids LOL

I also loved living in LA/Pasadena. This one took a little more getting used to lol, but by some miracle I got introduced into communities that made me feel so at home, so quickly. You know who you are! Couldn’t be more grateful

In the end, I only lived in LA for about a year, but it was a year I’ll never forget. Here are some cherished memories from this time

my id card 🤧✌️

Clip from my first week at Caltech! My hair was so long back then lol

Lots of great memories from my time in LA, like being carried to W’s at Red Lion every Monday

or the time Daniel Caesar posted that he’d be in Elysian Park in 10 min, and @taryncheng and I were 12 min away

or when we got to see Game 5 of the world series LIVE

or watching rams games

or flog gnaw (core)

Backstage with @chanpanmusic ☺️ seeing you guys rock LA felt like watching a dream come true

Always grateful when the homies visit

If I ever become a DJ it’ll be because of New Year’s at Casa Pun-Pinedo

Invited lecture at USC 🥰

So inspired by the genius and friendship of @gautam_rangan

Whole lotta blessings in this photo

Always grateful when the homies visit pt. 2

og socal friends 🫶

Wouldn’t have survived LA without this one

There were rough patches for sure…

but the good times were innumerable

3k

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The final weekend of Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry has arrived. Make your way for your first or 11th visit.

Take in the exhibit quietly during the day with free admission courtesy of our lead exhibition sponsor @eastwestbank.us.

Then join us for groovy music, performances and celebrations during the Closing Party on Saturday from 7-9 pm!

Come toast to the artists and collaborators who brought this most special exhibition to life!

Cocktail or theme attire encouraged 🐉🐦‍🔥🦄🐅🐢🦌🦊🐸💃🏻🕺🏻🦹🏻‍♀️😎

Enjoy a night in our beautiful courtyard with artists, curators and collaborators. Featuring live DJ sets and visuals, atmospheric performance, and shape-shifting décor by some of LA’s hottest creatives! Come dressed as your favorite creature if you'd like and ready to dance.

MC Closing Party
Saturday, September 5th, 7-10 pm
RVSP in the link in our bio

Special thanks to
Lead Exhibition Sponsor
East West Bank (@eastwestbank.us)

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Event Curator/Movement Director/Producer:
Stacy Dawson Stearns @stacydawsonstearns

DJ/VJ:
DJ Max Jaffe @mmmmjjjjjjjj
Galecstacy @galecstasy.sounds

Dance artists:
Jay Carlon @jaycarlon
Ibuki Kuramochi @ibuki_kuramochi
Kensaku Shinohara @kensakushinohara
Wendy Zhuo @wendyzhuoling

Designers:
Beck+Col @beckandcol
in collaboration with
Ruoyi Shi @shiruoyishi
jinseok choi @jinseok_choi_

#uscpam #asianart #mythicalcreatures #closingparty #artevent

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Last week! Mythical Creatures at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena closes Sunday September 6th. There’s a closing party Saturday Sept. 5th 7-10 pm. Please join me along with the rest of the incredible community that made this happen!

Outside of that, the museum is open 11-5pm Wednesday through Sunday. Hope to see you soon ❤️

#sculpture #mythicalcreatures #uscpam #installationart #asianart

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Mythical Creatures: The stories we carry

A major 12 room immersive art exhibition that invites visitors on a journey through the immigrant experiences via the visual language of mythology. It features 100 historical objects spanning 5,000 years alongside works by contemporary artists.

Art installation by Gautam Rangan

On view through September 6, 2026

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Currently on view until 9/6/2026 as part of the Mythical Creatures show at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. This exhibition covers an incredible range of contemporary and ancient artwork - I cried many times walking through the rooms. My work comes from an investigation into form as a manifestation of flow that I started in 2023. It features sculptures suspended against black velvet in space, revealed by projection. This technique highlights the idiosyncrasies of human perception: we can’t possibly see the full spectrum of information surrounding us. Instead, we patch together an imperfect picture from slices.

Thank you so much to @daveyoungkim and @sunghee_curates for inviting me into the show, @usc_pam for accommodating my insane process, emotional support from Kathy, @the.artists.salon.weho , @doyleimage @travis.chao, Alejandro, Dawn @dancermancer, @justinlui, @laramilhazes_ , Anka, Carlos and many others 🙏🏾❤️🌟

Music by Wolfgang Voigt - Gas 1 (1996)

#lightsculpture #art #uscpam #sculpture #installationart

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wild embodiment was everything 🌞🐉✨

a room full of strangers chose art that called to them, built creatures from clay, embodied them, and created entire worlds together. preverbal, tactile, collaborative, and somewhere between silly and profound

people said it was their favorite workshop ever. that it got them outside themselves in ways they didn’t expect. whimsical, pure joy, some chaos…

this is what chaosmos is for ✨

a seed was planted in @dfbassuk’s class at @extraordinary_college. this is what grew, world building as a way for people to flourish together, and i’m just getting started.

grateful to @thekinn.co for holding this space

the next one is coming. if you’ve been curious, that’s your sign. follow along to find out first.

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We spent yesterday promoting our two new releases, but May 27 was also the one year anniversary of our first book: Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi’s debut poetry collection, DISINTEGRATION MADE PLAIN AND EASY! It’s currently on its fifth printing, it exceeded expectations, & people continue to reach out & let us know how it moved them / wrecked them / bewildered them / brought them joy. We love Kiik & we love you all for supporting the weirdness of Piżama since day one. Here’s a slideshow/recap of the last year.

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I’M ONE YEAR OLDER & MY INDIE PRESS HAS TWO MORE BOOKS OUT TODAY!

A one-person operation I launched on my birthday last year, @pizamapress has been both a passion project & a learning experience. Rewarding, daunting, joyous, stressful, all of the above. Thanks so much if you’ve been following along, paying attention, or supporting in any capacity along the way.

It’d be *greatly* appreciated if you ordered a copy of one (or both) of these new books (via @asterism_books), helped spread the word (via IG, Substack, carrier pigeon), requested it at your local bookstore/library, and/or saved it over on Goodreads. This indie press is only twelve months old, so every little action helps keep us afloat!

Lastly, podcasters, book reviewers, Reddit lurkers, booksellers, hit me up if you’d like a review copy or have a collaborative idea. 100% down for anything. Much more to come. 📚❤️

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Being part of CreativeMornings Los Angeles has been one of those things that keeps me grounded in why community matters. @losangeles_cm

It’s not just a monthly event. It’s a room full of people who are all figuring things out in their own way—showing up, sharing real stories, and being open about what’s actually working (and what’s not).

I’ve learned that innovation doesn’t always come from some big “aha” moment. A lot of the time, it comes from listening to someone else’s experience and realizing you can approach things differently.

I appreciate being part of a space that values honesty, curiosity, and just being real with each other. It’s rare, and it matters.

@creativemorning
@losangeles_cm
@wholelifesolutionscoaching
@itsjenfontanilla
@thlproductions
@erichchen
@joannegarcia
@peterbellphoto
@hinjuproductions
@creativefoundationagency
@gabeshulman
@alejandropalaciosfilms
@whimsy.pasadena
@wearemica
@409woodbury
@ctrlcollective

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Deeply honored to have been part of the curatorial duo for this incredible exhibition at @usc_pam. Mythical Creatures, The Stories We Carry shares the dreams, challenges, daily and other worldly moments of the AAPI immigrant experience, layered through the mastermind artistic and narrative lens of @daveyoungkim. The exhibition is thoroughly captivating and the theme which celebrates the immigrant experience resounds with resilience, warmth and hope for better days ahead.

Thank you so much to all the artists for working with us through the ever flexing timelines! The exhibition is truly breath taking and each of your works are important in bringing the story together and to life.

This is an exhibition that people can spend hours in and still feel compelled to come back to experience, again and again. I urge you to go enjoy it soon!

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Repost from @usc_pam:

Mythical Creatures is our most ambitious exhibition yet, featuring over 20 contemporary artists. Exhibition now open! Big thank you to @sunghee_curates for working so closely with @daveyoungkim and our team to assemble this all-star list of contemporary artists.

#aapi #aapiartists #contemporaryart #asianamerican #asianamericanartist

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