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JAIN ARTIST OF DISTINCTION
JAYSHREE KHIMASIA
has influenced me tremendously. For example if you see the colours and the
clothes the women wear, the activities of the women. When I went to Rajasthan and I saw these women doing their daily chores they looked so happy doing it, They have very little and we have so much and we are still not satisfied with what we have. We want more and more and more and they were the happiest people that I came across. I draw inspiration from the beauty and richness of our culture, in particular, our women."
We live in a world full of speed and technology, where time is a scarce commodity. How do you cope with art in these circumstances. I asked her. "I have all the patience for art and I think that through my art I have learnt to be patient with my life as well. I remember a few years ago I used to rush around doing things, but now I do not I know where my time should go and I can divide my time equally, and I feel no matter what you do, whether you do it in a hurry or in a relaxed manner the results are two different things. I would much rather have better results in my life, rather than mass producing and finding out that am not happy myself. I do not need to become stressed in producing a work just to sell it. I should be happy with my own work. For example, for this exhibition, I had fifteen paintings and I rejected eight because personally I was not happy with the results. I could have brought them and nobody would have found any difference in them but I was not happy with the way that they turned out."
I wondered what she had to say to budding young artists within the community where ever they live whether in Africa, America or in the UK or in India? "Well, I would really say go where you heart is. Do whatever your heart tells you to do. Do not do what everybody else is doing on what is the in thing. Personally I feel that I want to expose the flamboyance of the Indian woman all dressed up, that is what I want to show. A lot of people have asked me why I cover their faces and I say well they are so beautiful whether they are covered or not, I still find there is a lot of beauty to be seen in a woman and I want to expose that You don't see the actual face of the person but you still see the form, the heart of the person and anybody that wants to go into art I would say do what you want to do. Don't follow anybody, be your own, and express your inner creativity by doing what you really want to do."
In March 1999, Mrs. Jayshree Khimasia was invited to display her art at the Meghraj Art Gallery in central London. Previously, she had coordinated a major exhibition of Jain Art at the 1997 JAINA Convention in Toronto. The Meghraj event was a most varied and successful exhibition, displaying a variety of paintings, masks and sculptures. Dr Deborah Swallow of the Victoria and Albert Museum hailed it as a most colourful portrayal of the rich heritage of India. Atul spoke to her about her art, and her message to budding young artists.
I first asked Mrs. Khimasia how she came to be so interested in art. "Well, I think there is a little bit of art in my family. My brother also paints, and my mother is a great artist. I was trained as a fashion designer, I studied here in England and then went back to Africa. And after getting married we went to Canada and there I started to do a little bit of art. But seriously I have only done it for the last 15 years, in the sense that I have had the chance to sell my paintings to the Canadians. Also my customers in Canada are Canadians, because they really like the colour and the country themes are different. Canada is such a multicultural city and everyone wants to know about each others cultures and so I have been doing this particular kind of Indian Art theme for the last 10 years."
I was curious about the cultural influence in her art. "I think art has brought me closer to my own culture, my own heritage, because I was born and brought up in Africa, and although we were involved in a lot of cultural activities I never lived in India for a long time. As a result, I read a lot of books particularly about Indian women. This research has brought me a lot closer and I appreciate my culture a lot more now than I did 10 years ago. My culture
Pictures - clockwise: (from this page)
1) Gigyasa 2) Veiled Beauty 3) Maa 4) The Prayer 5) Yovani
30
Jain Spirit. July - September 1999
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