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and held on to so many things just like the Asians in Asia. I am integrated in that sense, I work with a lot of African artists. I have my own gallery where I try and promote African art.
Can you say a few words about your present collection?
The present collection is basically a large percentage of my production for the last one year or so. Some of the paintings I started earlier. When I moved to India for about 4 months last year, I discovered Poona Paper which actually was a turning point for me. I think I am going to concentrate more on the paperwork now. I am still experimenting with a whole range of new techniques. A lot of the material and medium create the different feelings that you see on the canvasses.
The Jain tradition is based on nondiscrimination, and recognises the great creative potential of every soul. How did Jain values influence your art?
These values definitely influence one's outlook to life but when you start seeing that in practice, the society doesn't really behave in a Jain way. There is a whole lot of inherent racism. I really do try to be integrated with the world. I love people and I want to learn from everybody. I hope to be a role model, I really do, because often I see youngsters being bullied by elders. As soon as people have
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Jain Spirit July September 1999
children they start formulating a vision for their children, so that they do not suffer economically. There are so many inherent abilities that children have that are aborted because the kids are subtly manoeuvred into other fields and ways of behaving and thinking rather than being themselves. As a result, young people loose their innocence and the playfulness of living is lost. Everything becomes too serious and young people become disabled rather than creative and artistic.
Even subtly when you are younger within your own family you see discrimination. I have a family that ranges in colour from very pale to very dark. I have a sister who is very dark and you would see granny comparing her favourite children and measuring the beauty by measuring the fairness of the skin. I am not blaming her, that is her perception. However a foreigner would come and see my really dark sister and think she is really beautiful. There are white foreigners as well as black foreigners. And as children we were made very much aware that these things exist and they destroy self esteem. I think the inner confidence of the person is the real beauty of the person. Physically everybody is beautiful. This is one of the reasons that even though I can paint very beautiful women and I can do very nice scenes and glamorous pictures, I don't want to do that. I try not to flash down on to people. This is why I have had a bit of a change
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recently where I try to do blue people and green people and purple people rather than brown and white and black. So a lot of my faces, although they might look oriental have very African features and it is deliberate, I am trying to create this sort of synthesis. have also used moons and suns in a lot of my pictures.
So would you consider yourself a child?
Yes and no, I would consider myself a comedian. I am fun and I have fun and you should be having fun with everything that you do and should not get bogged down by things at all.
So what would be your message to young artists in the world, wanting to practice their art and wanting to develop their art?
Well a lot of good art is about practice. You may have to do a lot of work that seems boring, like drawing and doing stuff you don't like, and it is boring but once this is over, there is a point that comes where you have to know what you have to do and express your own creativity. You, should not wait for other peoples reaction to tell you 'wow that is beautiful' because then that is what you will end up doing all the time and then you will forget how to be yourself and express yourself.
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