For our second episode of Common Heritage, we interviewed Shreya Josh AKA Paradise Tender to know more about her creative practice, how she navigates the maze that is being a multidisciplinary artist and her ability to embrace chaos and turn it into joy.

Hey Shreya! How's your day going? Is today a typical day in your life as a creative?

Hey, it’s going good, I'm getting a lot of tiny tasks done and checking off my list which makes me slightly lighter-hearted by the hour!

I usually have 8-10 side quests every day as a creative, currently I am working on a few projects simultaneously, it’s the only way I know how to be without getting bored. Sometimes it’s tricky cause I end up taking too much on my plate and spread myself thin, but the good thing is that whenever I want to procrastinate on one task, I can get another completed in exchange.

A typical day in my life means waking up around 1pm, dealing with all the notifications I’ve received since morning, getting ready slowly and having lunch as my first meal of the day.

I then take an auto to my studio which is a 5 minute ride and reach here by 2:30 - 3pm. I’m usually here till 9-10pm at least and get all my side quests in order, sometimes I take a tattoo or tooth gem appointment, I almost always order a snack on Zomato mid way through the day.

Once I’m back home, I eat dinner and get into bed and reply to some DMs/comments while watching TV. I love watching tv a bit too much and usually have at it till 2-3am, after which I wind down for bed but my brain gets too active with ideas and I’m scribbling in my notes app till I pass out by 4-5am.

That’s my usual pattern at the moment!

Image courtesy of @shreya.josh

What have you been working on?

I have been working on this very fun project with auster where I will be creating multi-media artworks. I have been prepping for a group show at my studio Lovable Rebels, which I am curating and organising. I have taken up a bunch of tattoos, mostly big colorful pieces that have been super fun to work on! And done quite a few tooth gem appointments as well.

I have also been teaching my Art of Handpoke tattoos virtual mentorship class.

Oh I also designed merch for Focus Group Radio’s 5 year anniversary, so excited for the t-shirt to be released!

You are a masterclass in multitasking! How’s it working with so many different mediums, tattoos and teeth but also art and design? Does it feel like switching gears or just the different facets of creativity coming through you?

It feels quite natural to be working with so many different mediums, I don’t feel starved of sensory satisfactions. Realising how there is no real, serious point to life itself, I try to add creativity in all elements of my being. Everyday, everything needs to be super cute and super fun!! Similarly, switching from one medium to another just flows on its own based on my mood. Do I need something nourishing for my soul or do I need to do something that will feed my lifestyle?

As an artist (& human I suppose) I am quite impatient and don’t like to spend too much time on one project, which works out well in all the mediums except tattooing! That’s the one thing I have to accept, however long the process will take to finish. In all other mediums I work pretty fast and don’t spend too much time thinking about the finesse of the final outcome, it’s more about the exploratory journey.

Image courtesy of @shreya.josh

Tell us more about the materials themselves. I’m sure working on skin and teeth feel a lot different than working on paper. How do the different mediums lend themselves to your work? And how deep can one really think about the materiality of their work?

That’s the part I love the most, even as a kid I was very fascinated by different materials; how to use them and how they are made. I would watch so many YouTube videos of the process of things, like how pulp is made or how glass is blown, I could watch these for hours.

For me, choosing the right material for each project is as important as the concept of the artwork. If I were to draw on paper v/s if I were to tattoo on skin, though they would have an overarching style I would approach each material with a different care to it.

Works on paper are not closely as alive as works on skin, working with skin you have to be able to accept to have things out of your control. Once you have finished the tattoo, it isn’t protected in museum-grade anti-UV frames, they experience your general wear-and-tear along with the adventures of the human they are on.

With a painting you can expect it to look close to how it did 10 years after you’ve made it, but with a tattoo if you look at it a decade later, the colors have usually faded in parts and the lines have become bold and blurry in others.

That’s such an interesting way of looking at it. The tattoo lives on and has another life after it leaves your studio. It is still art, but not in the conventional, pedestalized way (that we often think is a defining factor of art).

What does art mean to you? When you are not creating works, what type of art do you like to engage with?

Anything made with authenticity and passion is art to me, when you bring purpose and creativity and joy into the work you put out it becomes a piece of Art.

Even if that means making a really tasty fusion dish where you contemporise and deconstruct a dish into a visual and sensory feast or an indie singer-songwriter producing a concert where they pay attention to all the tiny details from the costume and lighting to the flyer of the event.

When I am not creating artworks I am engaging in a few things I consider art, though they intertwine with capitalism they do bring me joy & inspiration. I love going to flea markets where small businesses do pop-ups and I love to touch and feel stuff made by other creators and take inspiration from their process. I love going to Asian grocery stores and getting a dopamine rush from all the fun, bright packaging, acting as if I’m a food critic, and doing taste tests for these random snacks! Lastly, I also love to let loose and go dancing, I really appreciate the art of electronic music and how it can make you feel so much with such few words!

Image courtesy of @shreya.josh

One thing I’ve noticed about you as a person is your ability to accept yourself as you are in the moment. Seeing you radically accept yourself in all your phases and stages has inspired me so much. Is this something you actively think about? Being okay with your dualities, or is it something that has always come naturally to you?

Thanks Prachi, didn’t realise it comes across as that but yeah it is hard work for me. I do believe in the power of words so whatever comes out of my mouth I really try to keep that positive but my thoughts get dark very easily.

For a few years I did struggle with panic attacks and anxiety more severely until I discovered spirituality and read the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle which was a big transformation for me to start accepting the moment.

Over the years I have gotten pretty good at accepting myself in all phases but some days when I go into a crowded public place like recently at the airport I noticed 2-3 Indian uncle aunties point and talk about my vitiligo and that made me somewhat uncomfortable and conscious of my looks but these thoughts eventually fizzle out when you remember the big picture, which is we’re all such tiny lil’ specks! So there truly is no point to victimise yourself or hate on another person, if you keep looking for justifications or validations you’ll just die feeling lost. This realisation helps me take life less seriously! When I am feeling intense dark emotions of anger/depression I remind myself to expect nothing, appreciate everything!

Image courtesy of @shreya.josh

It’s been such a pleasure working alongside you the past few weeks and feeling your infectious JOY for creating. Do you have any last words to share with those wanting to expand their creative pursuits and retain the childlike sense of play and fun at work?

Right back at ya! Your questions made me think about my lifestyle and practice with a fresh perspective, I appreciate you for that!

As my last words on how to find joy and retain that inner child I’ll leave you with my 5 best kept secrets:

Look for dopamine in your wardrobe. Make sure at least one garment in your OOTD has bright colors and textures on it. When you dress happy you feel happy.
Do crafts you’re mediocre at, since the standards are so low to make something good, you might as well have fun with it.
Customise everything! 🌞 Put stickers, bedazzle, engrave, act like everything you own is so precious to you, just like a child would. It makes you value your pieces with a renewed sense of affection for it.
When you're in a cab next time, instead of looking at your phone, look outside! Yesterday I saw a little girl slowly tugging at her grandfather and pointing with her little finger at an ice cream truck and that brought me so much joy! I would’ve totally missed that if I wasn’t present to my surroundings.
Lastly, you don’t NEED anything to be happy, you don’t have to wait to achieve something or buy anything to feel that sense; it already exists inside of you. When you’re happy and in a state of content, your body is not in survival mode and can actually function on being creative.

auster

Shreya Josh AKA Paradise Tender shares how she navigates the maze that is being a multidisciplinary artist and turns chaos into joy.

auster