Devika is an artist and art therapist residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received a Master of Arts in Marital and Family Therapy with a concentration in art therapy from Loyola Marymount University and is currently an Associate Post-Masters Fellow at Kaiser Permanente. She also runs a pop-up called everyday art club with creative coach, Rishikesh Tirumala. Devika was previously trained as a coach at a digital therapy startup, Joyable, and as a Group Facilitator for arts-based psychosocial support for survivors of trauma through First Aid Arts.
Her introduction to art began as simple doodles in the edges of notebooks as a teenager. Since then, her practice has transformed into the ongoing use of art for emotional regulation and creative self-expression. Her inspiration is both internal and external; using the vulnerability of being human as a seed for expression, then using everyday objects and textures found in nature to create multi-medium artwork. She is current exploring the use of embroidery and textiles, inspired by her grandfather who owned a tailor shop in Mumbai for 50 years and her grandmother who wove sarees on the loom in her family’s ancestral village.
In addition to making art, Devika has a longstanding love for improvisational comedy. She began performing in 2008 at Cupertino High School under ComedySportz San Jose's High School League. This art form challenged her shy personality and she quickly fell in love with the freedom of creating art out of thin air. Her improv journey continued with D1 Improv at Seattle University and then as a cast member at Un-Scripted Theater from 2016 - 2018 where she performed in the freeform late-night show, DASH, as well as the shows, Intimacy Issues and Swipe Right. Devika has performed at The Ohlone College High School Theatre Festival, The College Improv Tournament (CIT), The Northwest Convention of Intercollegiate Improv (NCII), and San Francisco's very own festivals, Femproviser Fest and SF Sketchfest.