An Artist

My journey with art began when I was seventeen years of age. Being the last born in my family, I have had to travel widely and this exposed me to a lot of experiences. I got my turning point in the field of art in 1988 when my path crossed that of artist Dr.Sirpi. Jayaraman who continues to be my great teacher and mentor. His love and hard work for art became my inspiration and this coupled with the encouragement I received from the friends I met and the support I got from my family greatly influenced the path that I continue to tread even today. I find this a fulfilling experience in which the joy that I get from art is immeasurable. As thus, I have learnt to ‘live’ art in all aspects of my life.

After completion of my Fine art college study, I was employed as a conservator and my duty involved travelling to many spiritual places such as temples, palaces, churches, and mosques to see the beauty of the architecture and to preserve historical paintings. I also wanted to get inspiration for my art works. It was in one of these trips in Tamilnadu that I met a devotee of the great Yogi Vallalar “Sadhu. Sivaraman” in 1999. That was to become my spiritual break and influenced the way I looked at life.

Life is a journey and it is full of secrets waiting to be explored. I define life as a chain of activities that are correlated and coherent. If we managed to explore the secrets of life and nature, then we would always achieve an inexplicable link with spirituality. This would then enable us to live in art and harmony with all the communities that we live in.

Art can be a driving force towards achieving total happiness. It is an endless journey that when one embraces, they can find total fulfillment. This is a journey that in which I always try to find philosophical reasons for everything that I have gone through in life. I then translate all my life experiences into art. My art also portrays the way people live, human expressions and expectations, people’s spiritual journeys and their relationship with nature.

In this website most of my paintings and drawings were made when I experienced different forms of emotions, ranging from total elation and extreme sorrow. I am trying to touch the soul gently with the peacock’s feather through art so we may live a wholly art life. It is the journey in which I continue to search the emptiness and silence within me.

Take an art walk in this web. Your comments will be highly appreciated.

Gopal Jayaraman