Cham-pea-ons of change

Performance artiste Princess Pea’s limited edition sculpture toys hark back the power of alliance and its lessons in freedom, courage and calm

You can’t miss Princess Pea in a crowd of people and concrete. Her giant anime head teeming with thoughts — a walking-talking exhibit of societal expectations that saddle women at every turn — is a nesting ground for change. While Princess Pea introduces herself as, “Anonymous is a woman”, we lounge in the kindness of kinship in her latest range of toys. Here, woman — a not-so-ambiguous sobriquet — surfaces as a life force.

Princess Pea

Daadi, takes after Bilkis Daadi from Shaheen Bagh; Kaali represents fearlessness and the ability to fight years of injustice; and the piece Soul Sisters stands for the formative years that siblings share amid differences, rivalry and acceptance. With the voice of a women’s collective drawing closer, the range wraps us in the warmth of a humdrum family. Pea shares, “A family witnesses a woman grow. It shakes and reassures her through girlhood and her adult years, too. I wanted to shine a light on that kind of alliance. A family has enough to hold on to just within itself to rise in the face of adversities. The sculpture shows a unit of five: mom, dad and three daughters. It is also a pithy comment on the pressure of having a male child.”

Fall and Rise

Pea is aware that art survives as a luxury in the country, and hopes her creations will reach art lovers who can not only afford such sculptures, but can also take the message forward. Daadi is not a political statement for the creator; she is a reminder from the past who attempts to help others with her knowledge. We see this carved character, as a part of the piece titled Everyday is a Protest. Elaborating on its significance, Pea notes, “When women unite, they are unstoppable. Remember the last two years and the sit-in protests where ordinary women came together to stand their ground. They organically wove tenets of empathy, dialogue, trust and kindness. I wanted to capture that image of vitality.”

Kali

Did the resilience of a collective dawn on her with its magnified shadow during the pandemic? Princess Pea nods yes: “The realisation certainly stems from seclusion, but also lives in compassionate strangers.” Similarly, proceeds from her sculptures help her collaborate with and support the craftsmen of Etikoppaka, a town in Andhra Pradesh, that is known for making soft wood toys.  

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