Questioning social mores and shattering boundaries are things we as Indian women constantly have to face, yet not everybody chooses to, or is even capable of, expressing those questions through illustrations. Homegrown spoke to Priyanka Paul via email about “Artwhoring”, an instagram account where the talented young artist features beautiful illustrations targeting issues like body positivity and feminism.

Homegrown: Why did you choose the handle ‘Artwhoring’? 

Priyanka Paul: “I’m constantly drawing throughout the day, which is why the name just popped into my head. Also, I strongly believe in using terms to destroy the stigma around them. Terms like ‘whore’ and ‘slut’ are just flung around for a variety of reasons, for women who choose to be sexual entities at par with men or wear clothes that don’t fit society aunty standards. I don’t get why censoring and ridiculing and chastising them is so rampant, hence ‘Artwhoring’ because like Dumbledore said, ‘Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.’ Bold and rebellious women are rightly to be feared,” she shoots off without missing a beat.

Some of Priyanka’s work involves the “Goddess” series, a collection of pieces inspired by the poem “Pantheon” by Harnidh Kaur. The pieces explore female goddesses from around the world, but reimagined as modern day women in “fancy hipster clothes.” In these depictions, the goddesses reclaim the space of social media, a powerful tool today, to reclaim sexual agency.”It was so much fun to reimagine them and draw their attires as young women today, with all the fancy hipster clothes, still retaining the divine and fierce warrior goddess feel in them. I drew them as modern women, because I think we all feel oppressed in some way or the other, and who else to follow but our goddesses? Especially in the fight against the patriarchy and rampant misogyny.” adds Priyanka.

In a world where our identities are always put to task, Priyanka presents a worldview where women step up and reclaim their confidence and speak up about issues that once left them scared and confused. I ask her about her pieces on body positivity, and she cites matter-of-factly, “A recent survey told me that the coming generation will almost never see body hair on women, that it will find body hair on women to be extraordinary. Indian bodies are not like western bodies, these are the laws of evolution, but I see us breaking ourselves, our cultures, our skins, to morph into toned down versions of our true identities. I’m also very proud of the fact, that many of my peers take self-love and acceptance so strongly.”  

Priyanka’s art speaks to the women who used to talk about their issues in hushed tones but no longer want to be silent anymore. Her passion in her work is visible, unabashed and unapologetic. “I want to ‘artrage’ not outrage” she concludes poetically. To follow her work, click here. Scroll on for more of her illustrations.  

This series was inspired by Harnidh Kaur’s poem ‘Pantheon,’ you can read it here.