Defying convention, the Princess Pea way

Identified by her large anime head, this performance artist pops up at various public places to ask questions to the society about identity and self-worth, writes Tanisha Saxena

The ‘Badi Dadi’ toy deconstructs ‘Granny power’

Whatever form of art we see, its main characteristic is that it is pleasing to the senses. It is an expression or application of human creativity.

Princess Pea, an anonymous artist from Gurugram, rose to fame in 2009 after she paraded nonchalantly around India Art Fair in Delhi with a large pea-shaped mask, a face that has not only become synonymous with her brand of art but garnered a frenetic worldwide following. The thought and enigma behind Princess Pea have gone beyond its alter ego, as the artist creates meaningful art that emphasises the importance of a voice.

Rooted in storytelling, Princess Pea’s creation revolves around women’s rights, feminism, body positivity, and other issues in the same space. The work often takes the form of a dialogue with the audience who participate actively and even passively with the art.

The artist says, “My practice has evolved with its relationship to diverse women through diverse age groups over the past decade looking at participants through the lens of gender and urbanisation.”

Anonymity isn’t novel to contemporary art. The legendary Guerrilla Girls, a shifting collective of women artists founded in New York in 1985, wore gorilla masks for anonymity and famously said that you never know what comes out of your mouth when you wear a mask.

“The thing about the unknown, unnamed, and the anonymous are that they are pseudo-someones,” asserts the performance artist. Through her intervention in the historical axis, Princess Pea masks the process of becoming known with the reverse process, (let’s call it) “dis-identification,” she says.

Known as an artist who manifests her creativity through different subjects, objects, and mediums around her, Princess Pea’s artwork expands into performances, photographing, and toy series of wooden dolls. Over the years, many thought-provoking artworks have been created by Princess Pea and the most recent one is the sculpture toy, Dadi that deconstructs ‘Granny power’.

The anonymous artist shares, “Of all my interactions, my favourite has been the figure of Dadi, our dear grandmother. Whether in art, literature, or society, older women are perceived to be innocent, weak, or incompetent. With Dadi, I wanted to offer a different picture: that these women are in fact so capable, and able to confront men with calm authority.”

Inspired by the iconic figure of Bilkis Dadi of Shaheen Bagh and countless other grandmothers who participated in what is considered to be one of the largest sit-in protests, Princess Pea’s Dadi is a women’s call for radical change.