A bit about me
I'm Parnaz Kaur, and I live in the Boston area. Although I grew up far from my homeland, my parents made it a rule in the house that we only spoke Panjabi. That connection to my mother tongue is the reason my paintings look the way they do.
My family has had the biggest influence on my journey as an artist. My father pushed me to paint at a professional level, and his belief in me has never wavered. My mother is an amazing artist herself — she doesn't do it professionally, but I owe her my interest in art and whatever talent I have. And I have one older brother who has shaped my perspective on Sikhi and on life in general. He is my role model.
I paint in oil because it's the most superior medium (hehe) and because it allows me to change my mind whenever. I like to paint big, and the slow drying time gives me the chance to wipe off what I don't like, so I can preserve my thin layering style while still molding the painting into the composition I want.
I find issue with the lack of Sikh art in the world. There is so little of it, and what exists is often reproduced rather than made. I hope to change that.
Ultimately I want to spark a renaissance for Sikhs: more people depicting our way of living and our history. Art doesn't inform you, it does something to you. Standing in front a painting means actually feeling the weight of a moment before you've even thought a single word about it.
Every people with a great history has had painters insisting on it. Sikhs deserve that too.
Painting for Seniors
For a while, I ran painting classes for the older people in my community, most of whom had never held a brush. I wanted to target this age group because I had seen firsthand with my own grandparents how lonely old age can be. And in desi culture especially, artistic talents are not fostered or encouraged in the youth, so most of these elders had spent a whole lifetime never being asked what they could make. I wanted to give them something to pour themselves into. Watching them realise, at seventy, that they were artists has been one of my most fulfilling moments.
