‘We are all goddesses in our own right’

Her Instagram bio says: ‘20. Bombay. Illustrator. Poet. Propaganda Machine. For freelance enquiries first show me your money.’ The 20-year-old Priyanka Paul, who creates quirky and bold illustrations for her Instagram page called Artwhoring and also runs a blog (www.artwhoring.com), has a huge fan following on social media. She is badass, unapologetic, and makes no bones  about speaking on sexuality, feminism, or issues related to sex. She also takes a stand against corporates/ individuals who don’t pay freelancers on time. 

We caught up with the final year Mass Media student at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, who has always been vocal and expressive about her thoughts.    

- What is ‘Artwhoring’ all about?
Artwhoring was just a name that popped into my head but I find it relevant to my belief in feminism. Sex workers are often called ‘whore’ and ‘slut’, which belittles their labour. Prostitution is one of the oldest professions in the world. It was practised in India, without the unnecessary stigma, but now it’s looked down upon and sex workers aren’t given the required government attention that they need because of the inclusion of Western ideas in our culture. Art, as a career choice, is also looked down upon often. Artwhoring to me, signifies dignity of labour. Words like ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ are also sometimes used for women who choose not to conform to societal norms or dress promiscuously or have sex as much as men do. I truly believe fierce, non-conforming, bold women should be feared. Artwhoring also connects with my passion of using art to make a point. It’s about using words in a way that positively affirms them.

- Your illustrations are like a commentary on society and social issues. Can you elaborate on how you pick the subjects and related visuals?
Social media has given a huge bunch of us a voice. I express myself best through my art and also my writing, however, I do believe it creates a much greater impact when coupled with visuals. My work includes anything that I read about, or learn in college, or research on, or anything that’s trending. It also includes deep rooted social norms that I believe need to be questioned. I think it’s important to talk and address and explore certain issues, and that’s what I try to do through my art.

- For your art, you choose a vibrant colour palette. Is there a specific reason behind it?
I don’t think people want to see grim and dark visuals. We’ve built a conversation around serious issues where we begin to address them with this negativity. I use bright pastel colours because then the conversation begins to appear approachable, and somehow makes it seem like the outlook towards it could be constructive. Personally, I’m also a fan of bright pastel colours; it’s very reflective of my personal aesthetics as well.

- In a very colourful, powerful way, your work also tends to give voice to the LGBTQ community. Tell us a little more about this.
I identify as queer and a lot of my work revolves around talking about my self identity and self discovery. When I talk about LGBTQ rights, I begin with talking about my own experiences and then I move on to talk about other socio-political issues concerning the community that I believe needs attention because media today has a very skewed portrayal of queer people. We’re not all ‘fabulous’, but we all want basic human rights.

- While your work highlights issues pertaining to women, your project Bedx Talks is dedicated to men’s sexuality.
Bedx Talks is a collaboration with a friend and fellow designer Rushil Bhatnagar. The zine is essentially a sex education guide targeted at Indian men because I realised that there is hardly any specialised sex education material available for them. Our lack of sex education in schools as well as stigmatised discussions in adult life has led to a lack of general information, be it about condoms, consent, personal hygiene or homosexual sex. The only kind of information available perhaps is the one in our boring textbooks which isn’t relatable. Bedx Talks, which is fun and infused with imagery, and has Bollywood references, bridges this gap and addresses important questions that men need to be definitely aware of.

- Your ‘Goddess’ series was very well received by audiences where you presented goddesses in very realistic and contemporary avatars. What made you give them this new avatar?
The ‘modern goddesses’ were inspired by Harnidh Kaur’s poem Pantheon. The poem portrays goddesses in a modern world — how they would be bold, ready to take on the world; how they would be active on social media; how they would preach feminism and so on. The poem talks about taboos revolving around women’s sexuality and how across the world there are barriers to female expression. Since the poem spoke about women in today’s age, I aimed at drawing them in a very ‘tumblr’ way. It connected with a lot of people, especially young people like myself because I believe it was a new perspective. I personally added character profiles, for example, modern-day Eve is a born rebel. She’s in medical school and wants to be an orthopaedic surgeon. She’s a strong supporter of female empowerment and fights against wage gaps. Oh, and she loves apple pie and gardening. The thought process was to create something that had a strong social message along with the right kind of fun and quirky aesthetics. 

The poem talks about the liberation and reclamation of female sexuality, bodies and voices and all these topics have always been seen as taboos and have been chastised, never celebrated. I think Harnidh’s poem, inherently, celebrated being a woman, in all our glory, bold and unabashed.

We’ve worshipped our goddesses for centuries as epitomes of feminine values and feminine divinity. It only deemed fit that they are seen as modern-day epitomes of feminist liberation. I wanted to show goddesses as everyday young urban women, who girls my age could connect to, and also to break the notion of women having to be perfect to be considered ‘goddesses’. We’re all goddesses in our own right.

I wanted to show goddesses as everyday young urban women, who girls my age could connect to, and also to break the notion of women having to be perfect to be considered ‘goddesses’