Crossings Gallery
body of work
artist: payal kumar
What does the body carry—and who is it carrying it for? In body of work, multidisciplinary artist payal kumar delves into the burdened, beautiful, and often fragmented body through a vivid blend of paintings, textiles, zines, and poetry. Their work draws from North Indian folk traditions and protective talismans to explore care, medicalization, and the limits of bodily autonomy in a world shaped by capitalism, colonialism, and generational trauma.
Braiding together kumar's intimate journey as both caregiver and patient, this collection invites viewers to witness the reimagining of our bodies as vessels of connection rather than limitation.
Step into this bold, genre-crossing exhibit and experience a powerful invitation to see the body—and care—itself, anew.
Care Sessions
On July 30, Participants experienced body of work as a space for collective rest and healing. They met the artist, explored the gallery, sipped herbal tea from Sankofa Anacaona Botanicals, and received calming ear acupuncture* from local 5NP-certified practitioners. There was also time in the Zine Nook, to engage in hands-on reflection through an art-making activity.
*Free auricular (ear) acupuncture offered in a communal setting. Sessions were available on a first-come, first-served. Participants were separated by folding screens for privacy and treated together for twenty-minute sessions. Not intended as a substitute for professional medical care.
Zine Nook
Come rest and digest in our resource nook! Flip through handmade, community-created booklets (aka “zines”) and explore themes of bodily autonomy, healing, medical justice, and more. Feel inspired? Add your zine to the collection or read one that speaks to you—this space is for sharing voices and stories.
Meet the Artist
payal kumar (they/them) is a multidisciplinary cultural worker and abortion doula whose work is rooted in the in-betweens. Their work across mediums is grounded in forms of folk art and [sub]cultural resistance from peoples' movements across local and global margins (particularly from their family’s villages in the Madhubani district of Bihar). Their visual art and performance pieces have found homes across grassroots protests and cozy intergenerational dinners, in gallery spaces like the Museum of Fine Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and international TRANS* Future Archives, and through collaborative learning spaces like the Allied Media Conference. payal is a participant of the 2024 Artist Pipeline program at the Harvard Ed Portal and a recipient of the prestigious Boston LAB Grant in 2021. Through creative strategies, they call on us to challenge the state's monopoly on Imagination so that we may all unearth and activate our collective power.
Headshot by Mel Taing
Artist's Statement
What Lingers Within?
I use mixed media- paintings, illustrations, zines, textile, poetry- to explore the individual and collective body beyond the borders of our skin. Inspired by North Indian folk art and protective healing talismans, each piece reflects the tension of navigating a body that doesn’t seem to be yours. As someone whose experience of self is shaped by intergenerational trauma and chronic illness, I use artmaking as a diagnostic tool to bring the inside out. In this process, I explore our porosity as beings shaped by our society. What are the things that linger within us? Are they just ours? These pieces are not self portraits, but reflections of a diasporic chimera that is fragmented, fluid, and extends past ourselves.
June 5 | body of work Opening Event
About Crossings Gallery
The Crossings Gallery showcases work by contemporary Allston-Brighton, Harvard, and Boston artists, complemented by artist talks, panel discussions, and interactive workshops. Open during Harvard Ed Portal hours, the gallery also features street-facing exhibitions for public viewing anytime.