paintings

 Princess Pea’s paintings present fleeting moments of everyday life. It’s not just any life, but a woman’s life lived in a colourful frenzy and fantasy. In a delicate twist, she borrows from the Mughal miniature style of painting and combines it with popular culture to emotionally communicate the mood of the women she observes. 

 

Made over a period of several months, each painting starts with a blank cotton and silk cloth onto which the narrative is drawn by hand. Natural pigments and colours are then used to fill in the small intricate details and left to dry.  

 

Despite the meditative joy and calm that the paintings evoke, the question “Are women truly ever at leisure?” seems to linger on. As an extension of her performance practice, Princess Pea paints herself in the contemplative landscapes and domestic scenes that probe into the nature of women’s imagination, self-expression, and experience.


About her paintings, artist Princess Pea shares, “In Indian and Western art, more often than not, women always appear to be in a state of leisure, whereas in reality, it’s quite the opposite. I wanted to challenge this way of seeing and portraying women. Through my paintings, I ask if we, as women, can ever truly be at leisure given the kind of expectations society has from us.”