Meet Lakshmi Sarma, a judge for Ekal IndiArt.
1. Please tell us about your involvement with Art.
Art has always been a hobby for me. I knew I had a creative streak, but also knew from the very beginning that I did not have the finesse or patience to make art a profession. Since childhood, I loved art and science equally. Eventually I ended up choosing science as a profession and Art as a passion. I love designing and tailoring dresses, flower arrangements, crafts and painting, both oil and fabric. As a parent volunteer, I taught Art to elementary school children in California, where ART was one of the programs that was not adequately funded by the school district. It was, therefore, run by parent volunteers such as myself.
2. What does being 'creative' mean to you?
To me being creative means trying to use whatever resources you have available to create something new and beautiful. I always find myself involved in creating wealth out of waste projects, such as picking up twigs and wild flowers to make a flower arrangement, reusing older dresses and saree pieces to a create new patterns, making puppets with egg shells, old socks, cloth remnants, card board etc.
3. Do you think art can be used to communicate a message to the society?)
Yes, I strongly believe that. Art is like any other medium, such as poetry or literature. It is a very powerful medium of expression that can be very effective to communicate a range of messages to society. I truly believe a visual always strikes the right cord, and stays in one's memory for a much longer period of time.
4. Why did you decide to judge Ekal's IndiArt competition?
I consider it an honor to be asked to judge this contest. Though I was never directly involved with EKAL, I have attended several EKAL fundraisers in California and am aware of this organization and their noble mission. I wanted to contribute to their great cause in my own small way.
5. Any piece of advice for our young artists?
Everyone has an artist in themselves waiting to be unleashed. Children are great artists, and I love seeing their innocent inner selves and thoughts depicted in the images they create. Art can be a great profession, passion, stress reliever, hobby whatever it is for you, give it your best and enjoy it. No one can truly judge art.
6. In one line define art:… Art is…
Art is a creation and expression of one’s self.
The awards ceremony and auction of art work will be held on Sunday, May 3, 3 - 5pm at Academy of Creative Arts, Burlington, MA.
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