With only two months left of 2022, I wanted to reintroduce you to my business and give you some insight into my art practice.
Q: Why is your business named “Nirvani Brown Art?”
A: At the time that I was organizing my business legally, I was painting figure art that celebrated brown-skinned subjects. I wanted to create art that minorities could relate to or feel seen in. So “Brown Art” was an original concept. The name “Brown” has a special significance to me, too. Since then, my art focus has evolved but my heart is still with helping others.
Q: What is your motivation behind creating still life paintings?
A: I live the lifestyle that I celebrate through my paintings. I believe in slowing down, mindful consumption, and cultivating joy out of the ordinary. I don’t want to live a life of comparison or with constant dissatisfaction with what I have. To me, a still life painting represents appreciating a moment in time and being grateful for the little things.
Q: How do you choose charities to donate part of your sales to?
A: With the sale of every painting, I donate 10% of the profit to an organization that fights against human trafficking. The charity must be a 501(c)(3) organization that has reach and a track record of confronting modern slavery through raising awareness, intervention, rescue, or survivor-centered treatment.
Q: Why is human trafficking your cause?
A: I believe that human trafficking is tied to so many issues that our world faces today. I have empathy for victims of violation and I’m disturbed that slavery still exists and is still growing in our modern day. I am also a product of the post-transatlantic slave trade that followed the abolishment of slavery in the West Indies and gave birth to an exploitative indentured servant system. You can learn more about my motivation here.
Q: How does your art practice work?
A: I am a full-time artist and what that means is that art is my job. I create original paintings that are signed and catalogued with a unique ID code marked on the back. You will see this code in my listing descriptions, too. I sell my art direct-to-consumer and so you can purchase my art directly off of my website. At this time, I only ship within the USA and Canada. My listings are only visible on my website, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Q: As an artist, why don’t you accept commission requests?
A: I enjoy the art I create and I put a lot of time and care into being a professional and philanthropic business. I like to have control over the art that I conceptualize. Oftentimes, I don’t receive commission requests for the style of work that I create. I find that people may assume that “artist” is a blanket term for someone who can execute any style or idea that someone has but every artist has their own structure and that isn’t mine.