Maria Qamar, an artist of Pakistani origin based out of Canada, is painting ‘aunty’ sketches and it is everything. Maria’s style is reminiscent of the works of breakthrough pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.
credit: @hatecopy/Instagram
In an interview to BBC, she talks about her inspiration and how her it all started, “I was researching lots of artists to see what styles worked. When you see a Lichtenstein piece, you know exactly what you have in front of you. So I tried to emulate that but what I drew looked like an auntie. What he drew looked like a white lady, but mine differed.
“When I saw what I had in front of me on the paper, I started wondering ‘what would my mum say’. That’s how it all started.”
‘What would mum say’, a line after every Indian’s own heart. We are the mummy-se-puchh-ke-batate-hain generation after all.
What began as a simple sketch of an Indian daughter-in-law struggling to adjust to her in-laws and her marital life, snowballed into a global trend. Maria had assumed that the satirical sketches might not go down well with the Indian community, but as it turns out, we do have a sense of humour after all. Maria now runs a popular Instagram account @hatecopy, which has 21.5k followers.
Her brand, HateCopy also sells t-shirts and posters from the website bearing the same name. The posters are relatable because we all know how overbearing mums can be, funny because she’s mixed ethnic eccentricities so well with pop art and and fantastic because it is witty without being offensive. At least no one has picketed her Instagram account yet.
Check out some of her works below:
1. When you realise too late that the profile picture was Photoshopped.
credit: @hatecopy/Instagram
2. Byomkesh Bakshi aunties.
credit: @hatecopy/Instagram
3. RELAX MOM.
credit: @hatecopy/Instagram
4. Why won’t you grow up already and get married and have babies? Why won’t you? Why?
credit: @hatecopy/Instagram
5. Eat. Study. Marry. Pop out babies. Goddamnit child. Do something with your life. #UGH
credit: @hatecopy/Instagram
6. When the realisation finally sets in. #NoJawaniOnlyDeewani
credit: @hatecopy/Instagram
7. Aunty-dom: When even coconut cannot solve your problems. #GrandmaWasWrong
credit: @hatecopy/Instagram
