Artist swaps out western influences for South Asian role models in recreation of her childhood bedroom

Vancouver visual artist and muralist Sandeep Johal says she's reclaiming her teenage years by re-imagining her childhood bedroom with images of South Asian role models in a new exhibit at the Surrey Art Gallery. 

Johal's exhibit What If? is a loose recreation of the artist's bedroom when she was growing up in Kelowna, B.C.

It's bright pink and, instead of influences from western culture, is filled with photos of women she wished she had known about as a teen, like suffragette Sophia Duleep Singh and India's first female taxi driver Selvi.

"I was really looking for South Asian women who really showed a lot of resilience and perseverance in situations that we would find really oppressive," Johal said.

"Essentially, it's looking back at my formative years and wishing that these remarkable women could have given me the confidence to feel like I could pursue anything."

WATCH | Sandeep Johal describes her reimagined teenage room:

B.C. artist recreates teenage bedroom with South Asian icons

9 months ago

Duration 2:25

B.C. artist Sandeep Johal recreated her teenage bedroom from the ‘90s. But instead of Western pop culture posters on the walls, it features South Asian role models.

Johal said the bedroom is true to who she really was as a teen. But, from the teen-girl magazines to books she enjoyed in the 1990s, the exhibit debunks the traditional stereotypes of South Asian women, she said.

Posters of bands like the Spice Girls and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have been recast.

"I created a textile in the style of the poster and I chose five South Asian women ... to be the Spice Girls," she said.

What If? is at the Surrey Art Gallery until Dec. 11.