Four the love of art American artist and writer Daisy Rockwell has a special connect with India and is excited to have her first exhibition outside the US, in Goa. With 26 paintings on display, Daisy talks about love for painting and books
By Dolcy D’Cruz | 03 Dec, 2014, 11:13PM IST Massachusetts-born Daisy Rockwell, eager to challenge herself in college, decided to pick a random language to study. As it turned out, she emerged with a PhD in South Asian literature, a book on the Hindi author Upendranath Ashk and an unexplainable love for India. The artist, from a family of artists, will be having her first ever painting exhibition outside the US at The Goa Arts & Literary Festival 2014. Her collection will feature four series of paintings. “I am very excited to be here in India as an artist. I have been to India previously but this is different. The four series comprise Deathsummer, The Odalisque, Little Pakeeza and Mug Shots,” says Daisy as she points out to the paintings which were brought in to Goa cosily tucked away in a suitcase. ‘The Odalisque’ is a new series revisiting the figure of the Odalisque in Orientalist painting. “I asked people who have strong opinions to send in pictures of them posing and to explain why that pose is different. The series is mostly based on Indian and Pakistani personalities and gives perspective,” adds Daisy. The paintings are painted on Birchwood instead of canvas as Daisy finds it better for detailing instead of the bumpy feel of canvas. Also to be displayed will be a series of paintings based on publicly available mug shots of American women who have been arrested by the police, and some paintings that engage with the recent war in Gaza. “In the US, there are mug shots on the internet; a large database of people with their names and crimes committed. I was obsessed with the idea and I started painting the women and titled the paintings with the crime instead of their names. It is related to Indian Rasa, while the men have clear Rasa, the women have strange looks and it is difficult to relate to what they must be feeling,” explains Daisy. ‘Little Pakeeza’ is based on the four paintings of her five and half year old daughter Seraphina who has accompanied Daisy to India. For Daisy, India is visually very exciting and she is amazed by Indian art, even the large advertisements covering entire walls. “I like how art is very detailed in India, like the Puja Ghars. I also did an exhibition of paintings based on Bollywood previously and Rasas and one with world politicians and historical events which included Indian politicians like Jawarharlal Nehru.” Being a part of the Goa Art and Literary Festival, Daisy is looking forward to meeting writers including the few she is in contact with over social media. “I am looking forward to meeting Mahesh Rao and Musharraf Ali Farooqi, the author of ‘Between Clay and Dust’. There will be many writers who are into translations so it will be great to share our views,” says Daisy who is currently reading Kenyan novel ‘Dust’ by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuors and has finished reading books by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. ‘Taste’, a novel by Daisy, was released in April and she has two more novels in the pipeline. “One is a retelling of Snow White. It is difficult to get great publishers to publish books in the US,” she concludes.