By Sonia Mansoor and Sangeeta Kumar

“Sometimes I forget that I’m in a social setting and not painting, and I stare at people - these moments are real”.

Preet Srivastava was born in India, lives and works in New York. She grew up on the West Coast, in a family of artists, at a time when India seemed very far way. Time has changed that and her connection with India is evident. She has a “relationship with bindis” and you see at least one dot in each of her canvases, sometimes obvious and sometimes hidden.

After an undergraduate degree in Biology, Preet went to Johns Hopkins to study Medical Illustration but soon realized that she wanted to do something “less confining”. She subsequently joined the ART Academy in San Diego. Though grateful to Art School for teaching her the fundamentals she recognized that she was being forced to throw away her heritage and become a “European Painter”. “As long as we don’t lose something that is inherently our own, it’s okay.”

She loves Bollywood movies and finds them romantic but adds that they “could take a stronger turn towards different looking actors”. In that light she read an essay about art and Bollywood by Indian cultural theorist, Ranjit Hoskote, that “hit her in the stomach”. It talks in essence about how artists works “should not be about negation but negotiation”.

She is deeply influenced by other cultural theorists like Homi Bhabha and she teaches her students to “find Yoga in painting”. Later this fall she will be working and teaching as a “guest artist” at Symphony Space and at Russell Simmons’ Corridor Gallery. Before setting of on a trip to Paris she spoke to EGO about herself and her work(s).

Q1 EGO: What do you enjoy most about being an artist? What are some common myths about artists?

There’s a feeling of being lost when painting and finding the painting done when I wake up. That feeling has kept me alive. The most pervasive myth about artists is that they’re lucky. There is a documentary in which Picasso is copying figures off the village walls in Rajasthan when he says “If you knew what it was to be one; you wouldn’t want to be one”.

Q2 EGO: Your paintings are versatile covering portraits, figures and landscapes. If you had to, pick a favorite “genre” what would it be?

They are all the same actually and they all carry the same attraction to me. It’s hard for me to categorize them. However, I am drawn to portraits because faces tell stories.

Q3 EGO: Besides your father, you have been influenced by Frida Kahlo and Basquiat. How have their styles influenced your work?

My father is a painter and growing up I was always around paint and fell in love with its smell and feel. My parents met in music school (my mother was a dancer) so I got constant artistic viewpoints. Frida Kahlo, Seagernt and Basquiat were masters. Their works helped me develop an essence. I feel like paintings are revelations and they talk about a person’s past. I also love American masters like Winslow Homer.

Q4 EGO: Your website says that you work is an “alliance between the personal and political” . Can you tell us a bit about that and the “infinite horizon of identity” ?

Everything is political. When I focus on a person in a painting and I have to change the way a face or body looks it is a political statement. Homi Bhabha said that “when the mind is entangled it becomes a political moment” and I try to achieve that depth in my work. The fact that we have to identify ourselves that in itself is political. There is an identity forced upon us. India is the East and the US is the West so what is the nucleus?

Q5 EGO: What Galleries currently represent you?

I am still looking for the right person/organization. I’ve turned down a few but I am leaning towards showing at the ‘Simic Galleries’. Mario Simic has 7 galleries spread over the US. My work will also be at IAAC Annual Auction in November.

Q6 EGO: Do you put up solo exhibitions? How often?

I have had a few exhibitions in galleries in India, mostly in Delhi. I have primarily operated as a private artist until now without major shows. People have been buying paintings directly from me and I have been living off of those earnings. I have so far just been immersed in the enjoyment but now see the need to share my work more widely. The prices of my paintings are determined by the medium used and the size of the painting. A 36X60 painting sells for $8640. Smaller ones sell for $1748 and $874. My work is on display on my website (www.preetworks.com).

Q7 EGO: Are there any contemporary South Asian artists, in the Diaspora or elsewhere whose work you find interesting?

I like Yamini Nair’s work and Vaikuntaram. I like Vaikuntaram’s color and philosophy, something like what India provides.

Q8 EGO: Has your style changed since Art School?

Yes. I am thankful for Art School. As soon as I got what I wanted I was done and wanted to get other answers on my own. Other Places gift me different things and that is why I have studios all over; Jaisalmer and San Diego inspire landscapes and New York City gives me figures, though they all mesh at some level.

She adds that “I would like to tell readers - Don’t be scared to be different’”.