10 Questions with Smishdesigns

Smishdesigns is a contemporary artist, designer, and illustrator. Charged with meaning and drenched in color, her work reveals and questions the social constructs of gender, prejudice, and power.
Publishing under an alias, she has emerged as a strong voice in Indian protest culture. She regularly inspires conversation and concern for human rights and social justice on her online platforms.

Smishdesigns is a graduate of Graphic Design from the Parsons School of Design in New York. Since then, she has been featured in countless magazines, dailies, and independent news platforms, including Taz.de Berlin, Vice, Amnesty International, CNNNews18, the Gal-dem Magazine, The Hindu, The Quint, Hindustan Times, and The Times of India.

Born in 1988, she currently lives and works in Mumbai, India.

smishworks.com | @smishdesigns

ARTIST STATEMENT

Smishdesigns is a contemporary Indian digital illustrator and designer. She began her art practice in the year 2019 after the national elections. She started to make socio-political art for her online platforms ever since as a reaction to the human rights violations happening in her country, India. It has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for her ever since then, be it online trolling or people carrying her artworks to protest sites; her journey of resistance through art has transpired in different forms. What thoroughly inspires her work is people’s movements and political upheavals. She finds that immensely motivating to keep creating resistance art and raise awareness about issues close to her heart.

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell us something about yourself. How did you start getting interested in art? And what keeps you motivated?

I am smishdesigns, a contemporary Indian digital illustrator and designer. I began my art practice in the year 2019 after the national elections. I started to make socio-political art for my online platforms. It has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for me ever since then. Be it online trolling or people carrying my artworks to protest sites, my journey of resistance through art has transpired in different forms. What thoroughly inspires my work is people's movements and political upheavals. I find that immensely motivating, and it gives me a lot of hope for my country.

You publish under an alias and keep your identity a secret. Does this allow you more freedom to express your ideas?

I have always used my Instagram account mostly for my art. When I did start it, I was a budding art student, and I would often post my photography or work on it, no personal pictures. But post the year 2019, I started to post a lot of protest art on it and realized that I was more comfortable with it being anonymous as it gave me a lot of freedom to express myself wholly and unwaveringly.

You have already had significant experiences between projects and publications. What is your favorite experience as an artist so far?

I think my favorite experience would be creating artwork for the causes of period disparity and abortion rights in India for social organizations such as Youth Ki Awaaz and The YP Foundation, respectively. I feel that these projects really resonated with me and the kind of work I want to do.

Let's talk about your work. Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

I mostly try to have a human touch in my illustrations as much as I can; I feel like it makes it more humane and easily relatable. Because I usually create topical art, which is me giving my opinions on topical burning issues, I realize the life of my work is not more than 15 seconds, and so I try to incorporate elements within my work so that people can instantly connect with the art and become aware of the issue addressed. The elements used in my artworks can range anywhere from a day-to-day object to a pop-culture reference to throw light on important socio-political issues. I wish I was more aware and informed; honestly; there's always room for that, which is why I have started to indulge in books, news articles, and news media covering recent Indian history to better understand, reason, and observe everything that's happening now. 

What is the most challenging part of your work? And where do you find inspiration?

People's movements, their courage, and their trust in their constitutional rights on which they dare to dream, hope, and fight. I find that immensely inspiring, and it gives me a lot of hope for my country. I think the most challenging aspect of my work is when I get too affected by the news and feel less motivated to create anything. It affects my thought process, and sometimes I have to push myself to put the artwork across nonetheless in a more confrontational way, but it's very consuming.

Your work seems to be highly political and engaged in social issues. What are the main themes and subjects of your illustrations? 

I mostly create art to address human rights violations happening in my country. I also make illustrations on themes such as challenging societal evils, feminism, and gender parity.

What do you think is the role of art in addressing such themes? And do you think artists can be good communicators to spread such ideas?

 I think in times like these, artists need to come forward and express more to mobilize and enable people to express themselves wholly. Our society is already very emotionally repressed, and it is healing to find an outlet in the arts. If people can associate their internal suffering, angst, or thoughts with art, then I want to keep doing what I do and try my best to make more art that connects with the collective psyche.
Artists, thinkers, and activists can only provide a direction/ opinion in these times; it's really up to the people to be more aware and not buy into mainstream political propaganda. 

Speaking of your work, you have a very distinctive style characterized by bold colors. What do these represent for you? And how do you choose them?

I mostly keep my style very minimal with a range of sometimes bold colors so it's not too chaotic and is easy to grasp in a matter of a few seconds. Each color stands for something in my head; sometimes, I define them, and sometimes, I let them define my art.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? Anything exciting you can tell us about?

I am currently working on artwork for my solo exhibition in Mumbai City by the end of this year. Plans for the future include more such exhibitions and interesting projects that I can be a part of. 

Finally, what do you hope to accomplish this year, both in terms of career goals and personal life?

I really wish I was at peace with myself, both professionally and personally, this year. I hope all that I have been working towards goes smoothly and successfully.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.