Prithi Khalique: Viewing Women as a Source of Power | October’s Artist of the Month
Raised in Dhaka, and currently based in New York, Prithi Khalique loves using the combination of illustration and interactive design to create meaningful personal connections with the world around her. She is a communication design major in her third year at Parsons School of Design. Her work embraces a wide range of disciplines such as web interaction, illustration, fine arts, and collage. Prithi uses design to address issues of decolonization, identity constructs, and women’s rights issues. We caught up with her:
1. When and why did you start your craft?
I started my painting and drawing ever since I was a child. My mother paints too, so I was initially inspired by her and her work. I started doing digital illustrations ever since I started working for a Bangladeshi newspaper at the age of 14. In the process, I realized I wanted my work to be based on politics and journalism.
2. Tell us more about you, your craft, your inspirations, and your vision.
Most of my inspiration comes from traditional Bangladeshi artists like Kanak Chapa Chakma, SM Sultan, and Zeba Fareha who celebrate culture and people in their artwork. My work is influenced mostly by Bengali crafts such as ricksha art, the Nokshi Katha, patua art and alpona.
The theoretical background of my visual work is viewing women as a source of power. The concepts in my illustrations focus on the idea of women in a surrealist and free non-patriarchal society. My work is usually depicted through Bangladeshi women wearing sharees in bold colors and intricate patterns. I try to address the taboo topic of sexuality and gender equality in Muslim communities.
I wish to create visual storytelling — narrating stories beyond colonization, European beauty standards and colorism. This includes the hand-painted jackets I make by re-appropriating the stolen labor of Bangladeshi garment factory workers. This is also targeted at an American audience who look at cheap apparel as a disposable item without acknowledging the tags and sweatshop labor. My friend Annie Felix and I started a project by re-making fast fashion pieces produced in south-Asian sweatshops. In this process, we also practice re-appropriation: by re-painting minimalist fast-fashion denim with ricksha art. We are also aesthetically reclaiming the designs and the labor that went into their making.
3. How do your friends and family to respond to your art?
Coming from a brown family, surprisingly, my parents were very supportive of my art. They persuaded me to go to art school and study what I wanted (what a bizarre concept). Although art was only a hobby to me, I never thought it would become a profession as it was so looked down upon compared to other STEM-related fields in Bangladesh. Even though I was one of the only ‘art kids’ at school, my friends have always appreciated my work and kept me motivated.
On the other hand, there are many negative reactions coming from a specific conservative audience for portraying secularism and the human figure in my art. Drawing the human figure is banned in Islam, so, as a child, I would receive hatred and criticism for drawing people and faces. This negative reaction still continues. Thus, as I grew up, I started drawing more women figures in my paintings.
4. As an artist in the Bangladeshi diaspora, do you feel represented in the larger art community?
This is a difficult question to answer because most Bangladeshi artists are not represented in the mainstream media. The only other Bangladeshi artists I know are through the internet. I wish there was more of a physical community for us. I am surrounded by other art communities but I feel almost alienated by the whitewashed depictions of “diversity” and not-so-very intersectional. It’s all a very white imperialist outlook in museums and galleries and barely any representation of people of color or women.
5. What advice would you give your younger self about your art?
Do not make art to please societal standards and do not conform to the male gaze. Stop subjecting your art to a mass media aesthetic. Recklessly doodle on your sketchbook without thinking anyone may see it. Express your self-identity and create a relationship with your art. Take risks!
Glossary:
Nokshi Katha — A type of embroidered quilt
Patua art — Pictoral stories told through painting on long scrolls
Alpona — Colorful handpainted motifs mainly on the streets or a floor
Check out @prithikhalique on Instagram and more of her work on www.prithi.net!
