Sounds ironic, doesn’t it?
Artists are inspired by beauty, and beauty is all around us. It is the ability to not discriminate and embrace what inspires and to want to capture or express that. I am sure that you are passionate about at least a few things yourself! Imagine if you were told that you could only choose one? Wouldn’t that feel restrictive? In art, in terms of what subjects one can choose to draw, what mediums to choose to express that subject and in what style to do so, I choose to be unrestricted because I love to exercise my right to choose how I want to do something and I have found that there are many ways. That in itself is beautiful as a form of freedom of expression.
It confuses me that how in a world of personal expression and the freedom to do so, there seems to be a message sent to artists that they need to consider being good at one type of subject, done in one medium, and in one style so that people can make a fast an easy association to the name. That feels like a sort of jail, it is certainly not something that I could imagine doing for the rest of my life, it will kill my passion. We are given the message that we need to simplify our image or identity to be successful. If I am to conform to those guidelines, then I would say that, being diverse is my niche.
Our human experience is influenced by change, shaped and moved by experiences, inspired by many things and I wish to express that in as many ways as I can without fearing judgement. You can relate to that, right? Art is a means of communicating something, a message an emotion, to highlight the nature of something, to expose the complexity of something and such. As an artist, I would focus on using whatever tools, skills and methods I have to express that. As I embrace beauty without discrimination, and I can only hope that what I do is embraced with similar open-mindedness.
Growing up in South Africa has influenced this acceptance of diversity as a way of life, it is in my blood, as I have grown up in a climate of many different races, cultures, languages, ways of life etc. It has inspired me to be open to finding beauty in things in an objective manner and influenced the nature of how I have come to express myself through art in many ways.
I hope that as you look at my body of art, that you can separate that this isn’t an artist confused but rather passionate about a lot. Your acceptance of that is a small step towards encouraging people to be who they are, gives people permission to be. That is a world that I advocate for. Diversity and the embracing of it, rather than ask people to change so that it is easier for us to make sense of them.
My art is about celebrating differences, as we have fleeting moods and feelings. Each of my expressions of emotions are different yet all felt by one person. We express ourselves through art, the art of communication, the art of listening, the art of martial arts etc. I thank you for taking the time to read this far, to conclude…
Let’s change the climate and break the boundaries of restrictions by challenging our expectations of it in ourselves and others. We are passionate about too much to fit neatly into a box. If more is more, then variety could be welcomed.
I look forward to connecting my art with the world from this year onwards and connecting with You!
Artsy Regards
Sarika Purchase