Rosanna Dean is an artist currently living and working in London. Currently, a resident at Oxford University's Centre for Hindu Studies.

Where she is developing and sharing ideas around Shaktism with Professors and Researchers from Oxford University and other academics from around the world which the Hindu Centre bring together. Her artwork addresses conflicting ideologies surrounding representations of the divine; seeking to establish connections between the ways in which societies have depicted religious belief over time.

Artiq When was the moment you realised you were going to be an artist?

Rosanna Growing up, I used to draw and paint all the time, which was always really encouraged by my parents. For a time, I was obsessed with designing and making clothes. I made a dress based on a photograph of me and my brother playing in the snow, and another based on photos of my mum growing up in Poland. My art teacher thought I'd be an illustrator because all my projects encompassed what I was reading or writing, and I ended up doing an art foundation course and illustration as a pathway.

After foundation, I went to Paris, met an incredible bunch of people, and we started a record label together, where I was their art director. After a few years, I thought I should get a degree, so I started a BA in illustration at Parsons Paris.

We did painting and drawing classes with the fine art students and a tutor introduced me to a sculptor whom I began assisting in making enormous bronze pieces based on flora and fauna and his environmental activism.

Artiq Your practice combines your interest in Buddhist ideology and spiritualism with traditional European painting. How do these elements influence or challenge each other in your work?

Rosanna I'm trying to understand my relationship to the body, where its edges are, what makes it an individual, this conglomerate of atoms in this particular arrangement, and notions of aliveness and the divine. Growing up, I was taken to churches and museums, and I was fascinated by the way European painting used oil paint to transform and make the body look so alive. Its ability to look like something that it's not made me think about what things are and what they appear to be and our inner and outer world. However, I felt really oppressed by the narratives as women seemed only to fit certain roles and stereotypes and reflected none of the ways I saw the world.

When I was twenty, my brother died in a sudden accident, and none of the stories I was told growing up gave me any framework to deal with it, nor did those around me. Talking about what had happened made people so uncomfortable; it felt really taboo which was isolating.

I went on this journey learning and immersing myself in other belief systems and their relationship to visual material, looking for some answers and for something to rebuild a sense of connection to.

I was drawn to creating balance and symmetry at that time in my painting as it provided a structure for the chaos. It took me to study Islamic patterning, sacred geometry, patterns in nature, the use of Yantras for contemplation, and Theyyam and Hindu rituals in India, trying to find a place where death was an accepted part of life. It was also at this time I started learning yoga, both physically and philosophically, which became and continues to be a really important part of my life.

Now, my work looks at the foundational stories cultures are based upon and how they use visual material to create frameworks for power and control, particularly how the female body is represented and what is considered sacred and profane, generally around sex and death. I'm imagining stories I wish I'd been told growing up, which would have prepared me more for the experiences to come.

Artiq You've said that you are fascinated by the grotesque. What is fascinating
about it, and where do you think this fascination originated?

Rosanna The grotesque has the potential to destabilise subjectivity, which relies upon the ability to categorise things into binaries. My interest originated from witnessing fear of seeing the body in any state where the body shows us our mortality, that we're stuff, combinations of what in other contexts we may consider inert.

The more I studied, the more I saw women's bodies also referred to as grotesque, as was eastern art, multi-limbed gods, and hybrid creatures, things that Western society 'othered' from their perception of what was normal and acceptable.

Originally the word comes from grotto which was associated with the womb, and 'grotteschi' the decorative elements that adorned these grottos. Ornamentation was often referred to as grotesque (and associated with women or the east). It was considered grotesque as it was seen to have the potential to appeal to sensuality and the body and distract from utility and 'logic'.

Artiq You're currently the artist-in-residence at Oxford University's Centre for Hindu Studies. What can you tell us about the residency and the work you're doing there?

Rosanna It's the first time the centre has asked a fine artist to work with them, which is quite a landmark as it demonstrates they're interested in and value how an art practice develops knowledge and understanding.

My research focuses on Tantra, the role of the feminine within it, how it's represented and how we are changed by ritual practice and the use of sound. Encompassed within this is how our world is constructed according to the foundational stories we are told.

I attend seminars with practitioners and academics from around the world within the field of comparative theology, Sanskrit, and phenomenology. I have the opportunity to present my work to them and the students for feedback and open discussion, as well as working closely with a Research Fellow there who also works with the Pitt Rivers Museum.

Artiq What do you want the audience to take away from your work?

Rosanna I want the work to make people feel seen in some way, and encourage them to slow down and take the time to look. Most of all, I just hope the work allows for conversations and connection.

Artiq What are you looking forward to in 2023?

Rosanna During the residency, I've realised how important sound is to me and that these paintings I'm making are also sound pieces. I'm studying Sanskrit and Mantra, and started making music again using my paintings as starting points. I'm aiming to exhibit these paintings, alongside the sound pieces and research with a publication by the end of the year.

Artiq Can you recommend an artist you think everyone should know about?

Rosanna Richard Wright - I'm really moved by his installations - and Penderecki, the Polish composer. I'm half Polish and have found listening to his music and learning about his work and experiences helpful in understanding that part of who I am better.

To learn more about Rosanna Dean's practice, visit her Website or Instagram.