Art & Activism 007 - @richesforrags
I came across Ragni’s work through a mutual friend’s page. That friend has blessed me with so much light and positivity through her artistry and the artivist’s works that she shares. (Thank you, Sundeep!) Similarly, for me, Ragni’s work speaks to the dark moments that we experience while reflecting the light and positivity that’s inside all of us. Every time that Ragni shares another piece with her following, I try my best not to comment hearts and shooting stars multiple times because it’s that wonderful. I’m not always successful, but it’s because I feel so seen in her pieces that discuss BLM, body neutrality and just feeling overwhelmed at times. It was an honor to learn so much about her and I hope that you experience a little more light just from getting to learn about her too.
Name: Ragni Agarwal
Age: 38
Hometown: Born in SoCal, most of my life lived in Palmdale
Occupation: Freelance artist, graphic designer by trade
Inspiration: I have a couple - mental health is my biggest...a lot of the issues I fight for through activism cause a lot of mental health issues. I just think that, even though it's trendy right now, there still aren't that many resources out there. So, through my art, if people can hear that someone else is going through it then it normalizes it and says it's okay. There's nothing wrong with you if you're going through this.
When did you start using your Instagram to promote/capture your art? Many moons ago, 2010 or 2011, I was in the fashion industry and I would create looks for $100, but then I just figured out that the fashion world was not for me especially when I was in it - it was not diverse, it was very vapid and clicky. When I went to events, I felt like I didn't have anyone to talk to and it wast size inclusive, but now there’s much more. I started using Instagram because I ‘d created a fashion blog - it was just a tool that everyone in fashion was starting to use.
Why do you incorporate politics and pop culture into your art? I just think it’s hard not to, I think that politics are everywhere and everyone is being affected by them constantly.
What’re your feelings about the recent murders at the hands of the police? There are a lot of feelings and emotions that come from that, but I didn't even know that much about the actual police and the history behind the police… The last couple weeks have been, for me, educating myself specifically around budgets and policing and how they receive these resources to do things that we don't need them for. The deaths are incredibly sad and fucked up so for me it's like “how can we change what is happening?” And, again, I just think that we all have to play a role in that and take some responsibility and do something about it.
How have these events inspired your art? In any major revolution, art is a huge catalyst and a way to voice what's happening. I have been finding ways to get involved because I can't physically go to protest - I'm staying with my parents and don't want to give them Covid because they're older and have health issues. So, I’m doing whatever else I can do to help this situation and since my way is art that's what I do.
What was life like for you growing up in Palmdale? I lived in a bubble. We moved there when I was seven years old. I was mostly hanging out with my family. There's a very large South Asian population. I’m Indian so I had a lot of other Indian friends and other Asian friends, but my school was super religious and I went to that school until 9th grade. Thereafter, I realized that every single thing that I learned in school was a lie. It was extremely whitewashed and they used to tell me regularly that because I pray to idols that I was going to hell. It was scary to hear as a child, but I still had my friends and I was never super academic so I never involved myself much with that.
My mom and dad were pretty strict so I didn't go to sleepovers - I mostly stayed at home and hung out at my house. Palmdale is a weird place, it's diverse, but not diverse at the same time especially when I was growing up. So in my neighborhood I had a lot of white friends. A lot of it is hard for me to remember - I don't remember having a lot of issues. My upbringing was super sheltered and I didnt have a lot of alone time with friends so I did not experience anything. I think there was a lot of stuff happening in Palmdale that I know about now, but I just didn't know about it when I was growing up. Free time in junior high was for math classes at the junior college. And I went to boarding school for high school.
What topics are important to you as far as what influences your art? Body positivity and skin color - I talk a lot about body positivity and neutrality because I have had eating disorders my whole life for as long as I can remember and they have played a huge part in my self-confidence and who I am. They've greatly impacted my mental health. Skin color - now I am starting to talk about that. Before, I didn't talk about it outright although my work typically featured people of color. I was really lucky in that my immediate family (my parents) never talked about skin color. My mom never stopped me from going in the sun, she always encouraged outdoor activities. They never cared how fair I was. That is just my immediate family but out of that, my best friends and my family talk about it all the time.
Indians are obsessed with skin color and colorism - it’s ingrained in our culture. Me and my sisters are all different tones, my middle sister is fair, my younger is in between her and me and again my parents never said anything. However, we noticed that when we would go to India - my aunts and uncles would talk about how beautiful my middle sister was and how she looked like a Bollywood actress and I think both my sisters are beautiful, but these comments were based simply on the fact that she was fair.
I don't care and I've always been outspoken, they know me as the loud moth - I would call my uncles out as a young girl and ask why they treated their wives like servants so I've been speaking out about these types of things. I've worked on myself enough to not be affected by that now, but it's so ingrained in our culture and there are people fighting against it and talking against it. At the same time, we have celebrities that are famous and Indian and they do all these things in America on Instagram, but they've been in Fair & Lovely commercials. And she hasn't acknowledged it, but I still think we have to give people room to change.
How do you hope to inspire change? That's actually something that I've been thinking about a lot lately because Instagram is such a tunnel. Most people who follow me and people I follow have very similar beliefs, but I wonder about how we can reach people that don't have the same beliefs. I’m still trying to figure that out - I'm not 100% sure.
It’s clear that representation is important to you, as far as your art - why is that? It's kind of the whole point of my art really. It’s like... I like pretty things, who doesn't like looking at them? But I got so tired of following these people on Instagram that have this sugarcoating of everything where it’s like if you just feel great about yourself all of these problems are going to fade away. But, it’s like, while trying to make a better world and feel better about yourself you can be aware of what's happening and create a voice for people that want to be heard and that's not always going to be pretty. It may look pretty so it'll draw you in, but the meaning is not always going to be pretty.
Favorite Food: Really into sweets right now - any sort of amazing chocolate chip cookie even the bad ones. I’m also a potato girl - french fries, indian potatoes - I love food!
Favorite Genre of Music: R&B & Hip Hop, but leaning more towards R&B. I listen to many types of music.
Favorite Artist/Band: Depends on my mood, but I have so many favorites - right now, really into Snoh Aalegra, love Stevie Wonder, really into old school Indian singers like Mohamad Rafi - my dad’s favorite and I love this female singer Asha Bhosle. I also love Miguel, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Rodrigo & Gabriella, Leon Bridges and Lizzo.
Favorite Artist: Mahoor Jamal, Meg Lionel Murphy, Ashley Lukashevsky, Amandeep Singh, Wole Lagunju, Mishko and Ferrari Sheppard.
Favorite Program (through which you create your art): I use Illustrator for everything.
Favorite Colors to use: It changes - you'll see throughout my Instagram that at certain areas, the colors go together - all of them.
Favorite Inner/Outer Feature: Inner is empathy. Outer is...I really like my eyes - I’m working on appreciating my outward self still!
Favorite Item that you incorporate into your daily looks, special looks, going out, around the house: Usually, my necklaces and my ring which I dont wear at home because I've been on my laptop so much. At certain points in my life, I’ve had so much anxiety that I would bite my nails down really far. Now that I've worked on it, I keep my nails done so not being able to go during quarantine has been hard.
A Little More About Ragni...
How have you been impacted by quarantining? I have depression and anxiety so I've been through dark periods in my life.I know a lot of people go through it, but I feel alone from time to time. And my art comes out of wanting to be seen and it's for people, to help them be seen.
What does #ragimate mean? It's my nickname plus animate (rag x animate) and I came up with the name so many years ago - it's just kind of stuck. I think people get confused sometimes because my name is different and my instagram name is different so I try to stick to one.
What was your major in college? It was magazine journalism because I too love magazines. I went to Boston University and they didn't have a graphic design program, at the time, but they had graphic design classes that were given through the program. All of my first jobs were in publication.
You describe yourself as a “palette chaser”. Why? I have another handle called @itsapalette where I always talk about palettes - it's still sitting there and I may use it later. I take pictures of anything I see in the world that looks like a good set of colors that go together. That's why I take so many shoe photos because when I look at the ground I look at all of the colors around my shoes.
What does “RAD” mean in your bio? Ragni Agarwal Designs