Nandini Kuppa-Apte is a Philadelphia-based artist who primarily works in 2D animation, video, and illustration.

Nandini draws inspiration from the rhythms of everyday life, especially people and places that she knows. She uses these familiar subjects to explore questions of identity and psyche, delving into her own experiences, thoughts, dreams, and emotions as she asks the viewer to look beyond what the eye sees and consider what lies beneath the surface.

Nandini studied at Carnegie Mellon University, where she received a BFA in Art with a concentration in Electronic and Time-Based Media. She is the winner of the Anne Ophelia Dowden Award and the Dara Birnbaum Award, which she received from the Carnegie Mellon School of Art Awards Faculty Committee in 2021 and 2024 respectively.

  • 2024 | BFA, Art, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

  • 2024- | Design Specialist, The Public Interest Network, Philadelphia
    2021-2024 | Media Equipment Assistant, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
    2023 | Summer Art Camp Intern, Wayne Art Center, Wayne
    2022 | Digital Illustration Intern, 360 MAGAZINE, Remote
    2019 | Animation Intern, EarthEnable, Remote

  • 2024 | Dara Birnbaum Award, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
    2023 | Andrew Carnegie Society Scholar, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
    2021 | Anne Ophelia Dowden Award, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

  • 2024 | Through a BIPOC Lens: Decolonizing Feminism, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
    2024 | Resonance, Miller Institute for Contemporary Art, Pittsburgh
    2023 | Fragments of Movement, Ellis Gallery, Pittsburgh
    2023 | Dear Bountiful Gathering, WQED Studio A, Pittsburgh
    2022 | Making Art at the End of the World, Ellis Gallery, Pittsburgh
    2022 | Hypnotic Pneumatic Circus, WQED Studio B, Pittsburgh