Hema was born in Baroda, and completed her Bachelor`s and Master`s Degrees in painting and printmaking respectively from the Fine Arts Faculty of the M S University there In the short time that Hema has had to develop her career (she graduated with her MFA in 1997), she has already taken giant steps and established herself very firmly among the new generation of Indian contemporary artists Upadhyay was the recipient of a National Scholarship from the Ministry of Human Resources, and also has to her credit annual awards from the Gujarat Lalit Kala Academy and the national Lalit Kala Academy for her work in the 10th International Triennale - India hosted in New DelhiHema Upadhyay lives and works in Mumbai