5.3 underrepresentation
Indian women in design provoking change.
Early work and life
Smish Design is a female artist and graphic designer based in Mumbai, India. She is 37 years old, born in 1998 (Terrain Art, 2019). She graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York with a degree in graphic design. While she chooses to keep her name under an alias, she is not afraid to use her voice to stand up for what she thinks is right (Tak Contemporary, 2025). Smish Design uses her contemporary art to challenge social constructs of gender, taste, and power, making viewers stop and think about their personal impact (Apre Art House, 2020). In an interview, she stated that “it has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for me ever since then. Be online trolling or people carrying out my artwork to protest sites, my journey of resistance through our transpired into different forms.” (Al-Tiba9, 2023).
Smish design chooses to publish under an alias to keep her identity hidden; however, she has become an important voice in Indian protest culture (Terrain Art, 2019). Smish Design chooses to remain under an alias because, ever since the start of her work in 2019, she has never labelled her work with a face or name, not even as a student (achricturaldigest, 2023). After a while, Smish decided that she was more comfortable with being anonymous, as it gave her more freedom to express her opinions without it being linked to any bias or judgment, especially as she posts a lot of protest art which could attract many different opinions (Al-Tiba9, 2023).
About her work
Smish started a lot of her activist work in 2019 after the national elections, where the Indian party BJP won by a landslide (BBC News, 2019). They started as a reaction to the human rights violations happening in her country. Some of her more recent solo projects have spoken about bout the rights of women in and out of marriages in India ( Gulmohur Quarterly, 2020).
In an interview with Al-Tiba9, Smish Design said, “I try to make art with a human touch” to make it feel relatable and reach beyond written language (Al-Tiba9, 2023). She also stated that “the life of her work is no longer than 15 seconds” so to make all her work impactful, she uses bright colours, clashing elements and pop culture references (Colorado State University, 2023).
Solo exhibition
Her first solo exhibition, called Patni Aur Woke, was held in the method art gallery in March 2021 in Mumbai India (Method, 2025). Patni Aur Woke, means why, and the woke part means being woke in a modern English sense (Wikipedia, 2025). In the exhibition, she exposes marriage as an Indian institution and shows imagery of bloody cuts and domestic violence. She said the exhibition celebrates women coming up in age where they realise the disadvantages within whether that occurred for many years. The exhibition makes a mockery of the mindset that love follows marriage all the time (Hindustan Times, 2021).
One of the pieces in her solo exhibition at method art gallery was called the dowry bride. The piece includes the perfect wife with all new thing things coming along in the box with her, like a new TV and our kitchen side. She is encased inside of a Barbie box, and the box reads bride with dowry exclusive sale in India (Hindustan Times 2021).
Pencil power
One of her projects, called “Weighing Us Down”, was part of a collaboration of work between Indian artists who were fighting back against political oppression. The title “weighing us down” refers to the heavy burdens many people carry with them. This piece of work was part of a collection of pieces, where an Indian collective came together to fight back against injustices in their country. All the prints were collected together to become an easy tool for people to take out when protesting, representing an impactful image (It's Nice That, 2025).
Argument
Smish design is a good case study for the project theme of underrepresentation. Especially through the theme of gender and intersectionality.
Women in Design
Everywhere in the world women have faced a strong gender bias for many years, this is no secret. However, women in Indian culture often face a stronger bias than we do in western world. Smish Design is not the only woman in India who is fighting back against all these gender biases that have been created, some other women are Shiloh Shiv Schulman and Aditi Dash (Times & Trends Academy, 2024). They are choosing to fight back as women in India still face a strong gender bias, especially in marriages and the workspace (Ipsos, 2025). In 2019, smish design started her practice due to human rights violations (Al-Tiba9, 2023). As India came under the rule of Narendra Modi, there was a promise to address sexual violence and raise the status of Indian women but not only has this not happened it has gotten worse under Narendra’s rule. 2019, saw the highest number of women voters, could the promises made just be to win the vote of women, as there is a possibility that women voters may lack access to the information that is necessary to inform their votes (Carnegie Endowment, 2018). The BJP party that Narendra rules under, is commonly known to be male dominated and Hindu supremacist (Guardian, 2019). Since this party came into power there has been a spike in violence against women, research showed that on average 86 women were raped a day, and 49 cases of crime against women were reported each hour (Jacobin, 2024).
Decolonizing Design
Decolonizing design is where people take part in western centric assumptions and challenge the idea of it. It looks into diversity and how to bring it into design. Decolonizing design mainly focuses on the design itself being represented; it is also important to consider the artist and the meaning of the work (eyeondesign, 2019). Graphic designer Shiva Nallaperumal said "I never studied Indian work” throughout his time studying design (Dezeen, 2019). Indian designers are more outspoken now about decolonization of design as a movement. Decolonizing design is a good way to reflect. India has a long history of colonial ruling stretching back to the 15th century (Science Direct, 2025). Design has always been dominated by western thinking and conformities. India’s design history is heavily linked to its colonial past, embracing pluriversality for Indian design would mean to move past western traditions (Medium, 2024).
Intersectionality
Intersectionality is the theory that all oppression is linked. It means to acknowledge that everyone has their own experience of discrimination whether it is due to race, sexuality, gender, or social class (Britannica, 2025). Recently contemporary artists have been challenging traditional gendered roles by exploring fluid identity in intersectionality (Naturalist Gallery, 2024). However Indian culture struggles to fit the mold for intersectionality, in Indian context there are stronger factors like caste, religion and nationalism that all intertwine with gender (Nyaaya, 2022). This is shown through laws like the MPL (Muslim personal law) that continues to exist and have separate legislation for Muslim women including in marriage. Having this separate law, despite the government being unconnected with religion when creating laws, it puts Muslim women at a huge disadvantage compared to women protected under the Indian civil code. This shows that the more western idea of intersectionality and recognizing gender can't always be used in societies that understand these factors differently. Caste has existed for hundreds of years in India, and it remains a reality for them. Even though modernization of characteristics like education has started to weaken the caste system, it is used as an ideological tool to keep power and cause harm. There is still a need for intersectionality that is sensitive to its own case (Eurac, 2025).
Bibliography
1. Terrain art (2019) Smish Design. Available from (https://www.terrain.art/discover/artists/smishdesigns) [Accessed 02/11/2025].
2. Tak Contemporary (2025) smish design. Available from (https://www.takcontemporary.com/smishdesigns) [Accessed 02/11/2025].
3. Apre Art House (2020) Smish Design. Available from: https://www.aprearthouse.com/collections/smish-designs?srsltid=AfmBOop96HZrDsU0cs_IIHU5qDzaajPB4pN-oCB1sC6zUK_f8ok6Rxtc [Accessed 20/10/2025].
4. Al-Tiba9 (2023) 10 questions with smish design. Available from (https://www.altiba9.com/platfrom-interviews-for-artists/smishdesigns-illustration-protest-gender-human-rights) [Accessed 02/11/2025].
5. architectural digest (2023) IYKYK, a solo show by Smish designs, unravels the artist's political musings. Available from (https://www.architecturaldigest.in/story/iykyk-a-solo-show-by-smishdesigns-unravels-the-artists-political-musings/) [Accessed 02/11/2025].
6. BBC News (2021) Indian general election 2019: What happened? Available from (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-48366944) [Accessed 02/11/2025].
7. Gulmohur Quarterly (2020) Artist statement. Available from: <https://www.gulmohurquarterly.com/essay/artist-s-statement-on-the-cover-art-smish-designs-issue-07-08> [Accessed 20/10/2025].
8. Colorado State University (2025) https://magazine.libarts.colostate.edu/article/art-is-an-essential-part-of-the-human-experience/. Available from: <https://magazine.libarts.colostate.edu/article/art-is-an-essential-part-of-the-human-experience/> [Accessed 29/11/2025].
9. Method (2025) Smish Design. Available from: <https://themethod.art/collections/smishdesigns/digital-art?srsltid=AfmBOoriJ28hYFTCtfc0dM3iiA6WuqiU8Y5vxoLdq87V---htjpbr7Dn> [Accessed 20/10/2025].
10. Hindustan Times (2021). An anonymous artist is calling out regressive practices within marriage. Available from (https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/art-culture/an-anonymous-artist-is-calling-out-regressive-practices-within-marriage-101625303878472.html) [Accessed 02/11/2025].
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Bibliography for argument
1. Times & Trends Academy (2024) breaking barriers : Indian women in design. Available from: <https://tta.edu.in/breaking-barriers-indian-women-in-design/> [Accessed 13/11/2025].
2. Carnegie Endowment (2018) Will women decide India's 2019 elections?. Available from: <https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2018/11/will-women-decide-indias-2019-elections?lang=en> [Accessed 15/11/2025].
3. Ipsos (2025) Urban India : A tale of progress and persistence. Available from: <https://www.ipsos.com/en-in/evolving-landscape-gender-equality-urban-india-tale-progress-and-persistence> [Accessed 13/11/2025].
4. Guardian (2019) India: largest protests in decades signal Modi may have gone too far. Available from: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/india-largest-protests-in-decades-signal-modi-may-have-gone-too-far> [Accessed 15/11/2025].
5. Al-Tiba9 (2023) 10 questions with smish design. Available from (https://www.altiba9.com/platfrom-interviews-for-artists/smishdesigns-illustration-protest-gender-human-rights) [Accessed 02/11/2025].
6. Jacobin (2024) Indian women have gone backwards under Narendra Modi's rule. Available from: <https://jacobin.com/2024/05/india-women-modi-bjp-inequality> [Accessed 15/11/2025].
7. eyeondesign (2019) what does it mean to decolonize design ?. Available from: <https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/what-does-it-mean-to-decolonize-design/#:~:text=For%20educator%20and%20designer%20Danah,see%20it%20the%20same%20way?> [Accessed 20/11/2025].
8. Dezeen (2019) Indian designers dismiss "design-school propaganda" as they decolonise their work. Available from: <https://www.dezeen.com/2019/11/14/indian-designers-decolonise-feature/> [Accessed 20/11/2025].
9. Science Direct (2025) Decolonising design ethics. Available from: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0142694X2500016X> [Accessed 20/11/2025].
10. Medium (2024) Decolonizing Design: An Indian Perspective on Pluriversality. Available from: <https://medium.com/roots-resonance/decolonizing-design-an-indian-perspective-on-pluriversality-badf9da3930a> [Accessed 20/11/2025].
11. Britannica (2025) Intersectionality. Available from: <https://www.britannica.com/topic/intersectionality> [Accessed 13/11/2025].
12. Naturalist Gallery (2024) Gender, Identity and Intersectionality in contemporary art. Available from:
<https://naturalist.gallery/blogs/journal/gender-identity-and-intersectionality-in-contemporary-art#:~:text=Through%20a%20lens%20of%20inclusivity,Gallery%20offers%20artist%20representation%20internationally.> [Accessed 20/11/2025].
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14. Eurac (2025) Moving beyond western ideas. Available from: <Intersectionality in India: Moving Beyond Western Ideas Shilpi Pandey Shilpi Pandey> [Accessed 20/11/2025].