Nimisha Doongarwal is a mixed media artist. Her conceptually layered pieces combine painting, photography, fabric, and digital prints which explore varying relationships between past and popular culture, by referencing social issues such as racism, immigration, and gender inequality. Each image tells a unique story, creating visual links to current and historical events in time. Through her work, her goal is to give a voice to social issues faced by women and people of color; to encourage viewers to embrace cultural diversity and step up for equality for all. Nimisha has been featured in publications such as Forbes and has exhibited in museums and galleries including the De Young Museum in San Francisco.
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- Just a child not a criminal
Self-taught or art school?
My mom is an Artist and for years I learned to paint and draw by copying her painting, but I grew to become a professional Engineer. In 2014, I wanted to learn more about art, so I joined continuing studies at Stanford University. After taking a few courses I started enjoying it and wanted to learn more, especially art history and art psychology, which is when I enrolled in a Masters in Fine Arts at Academy of Arts University. So, I am a traditionally trained artist, but I enjoy breaking the rules and freedom while creating my works.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
It’s so hard to pick one as there are so many works/artists I admire and connect with, but if I had to pick I’ll go with a Henri Matisse “Femme au chapeau” (Woman with a Hat), 1905 here. I’m so intrigued by the way he simplifies and reduces the scene to a nearly abstract collection of interlocking organic and geometric shapes, while, at the same time, injecting it with emotion, color and pattern. His color usage creates such strong emotion in the viewer and especially me. This painting is part of the permanent installation at SF MOMA and I stare at it every time I visit the SF MOMA. This might be one of the paintings which was the reason for me to pick portraiture, there is something fascinating about portraits that are more than a realistic representation of the subject.
How would you describe your style?
For me, my idea is the main force that leads me to choose style and materials. I can go from full oil-based painting to a mixed media collage if my idea suits it best. I do multiple digital and small studies before creating an actual piece, this helps me narrow down the issue and figure out solutions.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
My process is three-phased
1. Digital image
2. Image transferring the final digital image onto a wood panel using multiple image transfer techniques.
3. Painting, collaging, and mark-making which is my favorite and most advantageous part of the process. I use anything from oil, acrylic, charcoal to wax crayons.
The biggest and most important part of my process is research, which goes behind the images I select to create each piece. I start with reading about a specific topic relevant to colonial history, watch videos and collect an inventory of images, both historical and current, based on this. The images can be of people, places, and patterns that I find relevant to a topic. These images are then digitally combined to create a portrait. Once I have an initial digital image, I start going back and forth between digital and physical mediums. This involves making a photo collage, image transferring, silkscreen, and painting on the canvas. A lot of mark-making involves tearing paper and putting them together, scratching the surface, embedding fabric, making brush marks, etc. After this, I take a photo of the finished painting with contemporary surroundings and go back to add more details to this picture digitally. I keep following this process a few times until the mixed media painting looks finished.
My process directly resonates with the way our identities have evolved over the centuries. This is also the reason I chose to use mixed media rather than paintings so that I could show the layers our identities are made of. One of the reasons I selected to show our cultural overlap through colonial past and historical imagery is because, in my opinion, that is when we actually started to evolve into these global cultural and identities irrespective of our differences.
Is narrative important within your work?
Yes, the narrative is the key. My portraits are essentially a visual documentary and recreation of our history by repurposing vintage and contemporary imagery. The purpose of my art is to create awareness and a good narration of the social issues is the most crucial element which can help me send that message across to viewers.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
Other than Henri Matisse, Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Hung Liu are two contemporary women artists who have had the most influence on my work and me. Both of them create these beautiful images which are gorgeous to look at but have a deeper meaning, they talk about issues in our society and make strong statements. I want to become an activist, not just an artist. Art for me holds a higher purpose than just lighting up one’s living room. The saddest part is we just lost a great artist, Hung Liu a few days back.
What or who inspires your art?
My work is most influenced by social issues and current affairs. Each piece is a result of the social issues I see or read around me. My works can be best described as social-political pieces which look like colorful abstract portraits from far and up close to visual documentation of the issues in our contemporary society. I aspire to create works that are interesting to look at, but at the same time raise awareness in a way that is visually digestible. Reacher is key to my work and current affairs lead the path for me, so it’s hard for me to say what’s next, I certainly hope we, as a society, are done with discriminating against color, race, religion, gender, and so on.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
I live in a condo in San Francisco and my husband built this DIY home studio for me in our apartment. It is super convenient for me to work from my home studio. Here, I can paint anytime I want, be it during the day or in the middle of the night. I surely have tons of art supplies and I become a kid in a candy store when it comes to painting, so yes I have a lot of paint in my studio.
Do you have any studio rituals?
My day-to-day looks very different from a regular artist’s life. I work as an engineer during the day and by night get to my studio and explore my artistic side. I have been leading this dual life science 2013 and enjoy it a lot. Art keeps me close to emotions and the creative side, and being an engineer keeps me analytical and confident. I do talk to other artists, go to galleries and museums and also talk a lot about art to my engineer friends, inspiration for my works comes from everywhere.
What are you working on currently?
Currently, I am working on a few pieces in the series “Women for change” It is a series of mixed media #portraits of the most influential women. These are the portraits of women inspiring the world for a change, fighting for gender issues as superheroes. Portrait in my opinion isn’t just the physical appearance, but the personality and one’s journey through their life. This abstract portrait combines images from past and present and what these women are known for!
Some of the women who inspire me are @kamalaharris, @ruthbaderg, @malala,@michelleobama, and Mother Terresa. They all make me want to do something to make this a better society in the little way I possibly can as an artist.
Where can we buy your art?
https://www.nimishart.com/shop
https://www.saatchiart.com/nimishart
https://artbaazar.com/collections/nimisha-doongarwal (older works)
https://sfwomenartists.org/artist/nimisha-doongarwal/
