Mital Patel
My aim as an artist is to allow the viewer to embark on and
get lost in a journey inside the artwork they perceive. Detail, colour and
emotions are a key and very important aspect to my work and am proud to say
that no one can just ‘’ look’’ at my work in passing,
as there is so much detail which will be missed at first sight. Each artwork
takes between 6-12 months to complete as it contains hundreds of smaller pictures
and characters who have a range of human emotions that are being felt around
the world at any one moment in time.
We all have a wide variety of emotions that we experience each day from highs
to lows, something which is part of the human nature of existence. In my artwork
different characters are also showing different emotions at the same snapshot
in time. This is the same as life. As you sit and read this your experience
in life is unique to you at this precise moment. However, there are other
people in this world at the same moment experiencing happiness, shock, sadness,
pain, anger, contentment or peace as well as more. Many of my characters will
display the emotions listed above as well as others.
The main essence of my art is to ‘’study’’ and develop
a greater understanding of the art work over time, gradually building up to
see this bigger picture. This allows you to understand the different characters
and see how they are interconnected with each other, which is a metaphor on
the interdependency in human life. In Buddhism we learn the nature of equanimity
which teaches us that we are all dependent on each other and that our existence
and reality is due to people who we shall never meet. For example each piece
of clothing on your body was probably made by many different people; the food
you eat was cooked and prepared by someone, from the cereal in the morning
to the fruit at lunch down to the ready-made meals for dinner. This makes
us give thanks and gratitude to those who have shaped our daily reality even
though we will never know who they are. Similarly in the Hindu philosophy
and scriptures, we learn that are all composed of the same spiritual energy
which has come from the one source, which again follows the principles of
all major religions including Islam and Christianity. Why is this relevant
to my work? I have learned that life is interdependent as well as independent.
Each character forms its own nature of reality and exists at any one moment
in time. At the same time each character is also linked to those around and
even linked to characters at the other end of the page.
My art also contains many smaller characters and ‘stick people’.
I have been asked many times what the significance of the stick people are
and what they represent. For me it follows along the lines of the Hindu and
Buddhist philosophy. Each stick person can represent three different spiritual
and philosophical situations;
1/ Each stick person can represent all the different souls which we have met
and are yet to meet in this life. These souls have either already entered
into our lives, have come and gone, have come and are still in our lives or
they are destined to come into our lives in the future. Some souls will be
bolder and leave more of an impression and will be seen easily others will
be very faint and small and may go un-noticed. Again some souls who occupy
the same world we may never even meet.
2/ Each stick person can represent all the bodies that we once were in a previous
lifetime. In the Hindu and Buddhist philosophy the theory of reincarnation
and karma, states that the soul has transmigrated through many animals and
life forms until we have reached the human form. In this human form we will
also be re-incarnated taken one body after another until we finally reach
the state of liberation from this material world and enter the spiritual realm
where our physical body is of no use and become pure spiritual energy
3/ Each stick person can represent the future bodies which our souls will
inhabit after our current life is over. This process of continuous soul migration
is said to be directly related to our karma. The seeds we sow in this life
may not only bear fruit in our current lifetime but can bear fruit in a future
lifetime. The greater the number of future bodies that we will potentially
inhabit is related to what we are destined to learn in each lifetime. Each
life has a pathway for ultimate spiritual enlightenment and each life will
guide you to the realisation that the aim of this human life is just this.
Again the variations in the emotions of the characters in the art represent
the good and challenging events which have occurred in our lives. In Buddhism
each challenge can be seen as a blessing as it represents the clearing of
a past karma and thus furthering life towards the liberation of the soul.
It is also said that the human condition seeks two main objectives, to seek
happiness and to avoid suffering and these two basic drivers of life can be
found in many of the characters in my art.
I would like to describe my artwork in the metaphor of a good book or a good
film, the more you see the film again or read to book again, the more information
you will pick up and more detail noticed, something you may have missed the
first time round. This is the best way I can describe my artwork.
As mentioned in the charity section sight is a gift and should be appreciated
daily as it creates the major sense helping us to perceive our lives. So I
ask all those reading this, that the next time you appreciate art (or not)
also appreciate the fact that you have the ability to appreciate the art (or
not), as the latter is usually the more important.
The aim of donating 5% of profits from the sales of my artwork has one major
theme.
‘’’’ EVERY TIME YOU SEE AND LOOK AT THE PURCHASED
ART WORK, YOU WILL BE SAFE IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE HELPED SOMEONE IN
THE DEVELOPING WORLD ALSO SEE, WHICH MAY ALLOW THIS PERSON TO WORK AND EARN
MONEY TO FEED THEIR FAMILY, HELP CHILDREN TO BE EDUCATED, ALLOW PEOPLE TO
READ THEIR RELIGIOUS SCRIPTURES AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, HELP IMPROVE THEIR QUAILITY
OF LIFE AND SELF ESTEEM. ‘’’’
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