Brief: How to illustrate the resilience and joy of India, while not invalidating the pain and challenges of COVID-19?

I was honored to be part of Jay Shetty's Help India Breathe campaign as an illustrator. My artwork, which is a gift for the campaign's main donors, represents the essence of what being Indian means to me: resilience and joy amidst the challenges of life.

To bring this concept to life, I created a map of India using newspaper clippings from recent COVID-19 news. I wanted to make sure this project was rooted to the current affairs in India, so I collaborated with someone in India who collected newspapers, scanned them, and sent them to me. This collaboration added depth and significance to the artwork's purpose.