Kripa Joshi: Miss Moti Tells It All
“I believe anyone can be a comic artist,” Kripa, the Nepali-born illustrator of uniquely fantastical graphic series, Miss Moti, told us. “As long as you have a story, the technique – the format of the comic layout can be learnt. Of course it also helps if you have a signature style. ” With her protagonist being the plus-size and proud Miss Moti – the widely recognised South-Asian word for ‘fat’ - and the trajectory of her amusing adventures always dissolving into a sort of delicious, dream-like drama, Kripa’s own colourful cartoons tick all the creative boxes. Whether she is floating away on a tempting candy cloud in the stairwell, or rescuing her favourite film heroine from crime on the NY streets, the message of Miss Moti is to “own your physical attributes, and to never let them hold you back.”
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This is reflective of the otherwise chirpy cartoonist’s own struggle with a negative body image. She went on to say: “there is a double meaning to the word ‘Moti’: she is also a character I use to ‘moti’vate myself, and it refers to that. I draw to inspire the many women who are facing the ridiculous superficial standards placed on them, but primarily to inspire myself.” And Kripa’s experience of deeply entrenched anxiety does not stop there: “it was very difficult when I had my daughter in 2013. I suffered from a form of post-natal depression where I was so overcome with worry it would be a challenge to make the simplest of decisions. I remember staring in an aisle for an hour, not knowing which shampoo to buy…” The poignancy of wanting an escape from the everyday is certainly underlying in Kripa’s ‘Miss Moti’, but it is by no means the final sentiment. Her comic currently being showcased in the excellent ‘Comix Creatrix: 100 Women’ exhibition at the ‘House of Illustration’ in King’s Cross, as well as the woman herself having been the co-editor for leading, feminist comic digest ‘The Strumpet’, and the recipient of the Fulbright scholarship to the NY School of Visual Arts before that, there can be no denying this talented ink-smith has accomplished as much as she has persevered. And this is what ultimately emanates in the capers of her full-figured heroine. Empowerment comes from facing the emotional complexity. As Kripa herself added, “it is about overcoming all the adversity and achieving what you didn’t think possible.” Negotiating through the often blurry, grey areas of life – a process the artist made sure to emphasise is always ongoing – Kripa has brought into being a beautiful and well-defined character. Indeed in a final spin on the noun ‘Moti’ (by varying the pronunciation), the creator’s equally vibrant blog states, ‘the word also stands for ‘pearl.’
Tell us more about Miss Moti's character?
As well as on me, she is based on my mother. She also struggles with weight but has never let that stop her. As a communication officer, she would walk for days to go to remote villages in Nepal. ‘Miss Moti’s’ technical and stylistic inspiration came from my grad thesis which was a series of paintings looking into body image issues, using the colour and print portraiture of Indian Mogul paintings. There is one instalment in particular (pictured) that critiqued the terminology of people comparing each other to animals E.g. fat as a hippo. I wanted to expose the irony where the animal themselves don’t care how they appear! So an original version of Moti has her standing by the pool looking self-conscious, while the bigger picture of creatures frolicking and being free are depicted in a gold border. At the same time I was attending a history of comics class where I was discovering the world of comics for the first time: Miss Moti was a culmination of it all.
Please describe your style?
It is sort of Magical Realist where the set-up is fantasy versus reality: I leave it to the reader to decide which. Miss Moti’s outings are also urban because she was created in New York, but the drawings are characterised by the thick black lines and colour you find in Nepali Maithali paintings. Over time they became less flat and more dimensional to give more drama, and inherited this Picasso-esque feel.
And what do you find most appealing about the comic medium?
That it’s versatile. You can have different combinations of words and pictures: my illustrations, for example, are wordless. It allows readers to connect with the emotion and that transcends language barriers. You can also take your time in a comic— slow it down, stretch it out. The pace is in your hands- in that sense it does what perhaps, a film, cannot.
Who are some of your comic inspirations?
Early 20th century comic artist Winsor McCay with his creation ‘Little Nemo’; Chris Ware for his page design and colour.Also contemporary artists such as Philippa Rice with her cardboard collage-type drawings, and Indian comic Amruta Patil who uses Indian mythology, pioneering the epic-narrative style comic in India.
What’s been the toughest part of your journey?
Fighting post-natal depression; I have an official comic instalment called ‘Miss Motivation’ which runs in the Nepali Times, offering inspiring quotes. Everything you do is tinged with guilt. If you’re at home with the children, you feel you’re not doing enough with your education; when you’re at work you’re constantly thinking about child and missing them.
Finally, what would be your advice to other young comic artists?
Get yourself out there. There are many different ways: artists at Comic Con sell their own Xeroxed self-published copies, print web comics. You can also submit to different anthologies which helps share the burden of financing and self-motivation. See yourself as professional: don’t be afraid of rejection. You won’t get anywhere if you don’t try, and the more you do the better you become. Also, there is no shame in starting small. Social media can help you test the water.
