arts
10 Questions For Malika Garrett
Malika Garrett is an accomplished artist, successful business executive and mother of two. As an artist, Malika’s approach to her work is very instinctive and she is constantly experimenting. She uses the Palette knife as her primary tool to paint and her sole medium is oil. Malika’s primary subjects are the simple everyday lives of rural India and its people. Her work is about bright colors and many of her subjects are from the alluring desert region of Rajasthan, making her work full of vibrant yellows, reds, greens and bright pinks. Candid images and powerful memories are the essence of Malika’s works.
Malika’s work is part of many private collections in India, Singapore, UK, Australia, China and the US. Malika was the first South Asian artist to have a solo exhibit at the prestigious Woodruff Arts Center (Atlanta) in August 2004.
She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia . She has lived and worked around the world and currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and two young children.
GAT: Where were you born and grew up?
I was born in Calcutta, India. I came to the United States in 1985 to join Wesleyan College in Macon, GA on a scholarship. I received a BFA in Visual Arts and have been in the US since then.
GAT: Who influenced you the most in arts when you’re younger?
Probably my grandmother and my mom. All of my family was very supportive and
encouraging.
GAT: What inspire and influenced you to be an artist?
My inspiration will always be my culture and home-India. My influence will have to be all the artists in my family. I grew up around creative people. I was always around creative people that were involved in some form of art whether it was music, painting, literature or otherwise.
GAT: You are passionate about painting and photography. What are your favorite subjects?
Yes, my passion is painting and photography. My favorite subjects are the colorful and beautiful people of Rajasthan in India. I also love photographing children there. My primary subjects are simple everyday lives of rural India and candid images and moments that grab my eye. Above all I make a connection with my subjects and that is what I like to re create on canvas if I can. I want to show how I liked a moment, a person or mainly how I remember it.
GAT: Describe your painting styles or influences?
I have a unique style. I paint with a pallette knife and my medium is oil. My work could be said as being very instinctive and I am pretty much experimenting with paint, texture and color. My paintings are constructed purely by means of tones in deep oranges, yellows, reds and challenged by blues and purples. I try to stay away from academic form. My work is a mix of modernism and abstract expressionsim but deeply rooted in my Indian tradition.
GAT: Where do you find your inspiration?
My inspiration comes from my travels and my visits home to India. The intense colors, diversity and the spirit of India and its people are my true inspiration
GAT: Do you remember your first painting sold? Describe the transaction and your feelings.
I was very young probably 4 or 5 I think. I would add Camel Poster paints on paper and smudge it together to create unique designs. I would then take these small “paintings” and sell them. My first client was my grandmother who bought all my pieces I believe!!! With the money I got from my sales which was around Rs 20 or so, I immediately donated it to Mother Teresas Missionaries of Charity. I remember being very excited, but no so much about my art work being sold but the fact that I was able to send Mother Teresa a donation from my own earnings. It was a big day for me.
GAT: Name the artist that you admire from a far and why?
I have many favorite artists I have been influenced by Fauvism and Abstarct expressionism and its spontaneous styles, But artists like Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse and William De Kooning stand out for me the most. They have helped shape my style and technique. I have accepted many influences from others work and then tried to master my own style. Their use of color and their technique of applying paint has always been a source of inspiration for me.
GAT: Share with us your latest exciting project that you’re working on.
I am about to start on one of the most exciting projects I have ever done. I was selected to work on a fantastic project in India called “India on Canvas” where eminent Indians collaborate with the greatest names in the art fraternity to jointly produce a canvas which is expected to be auctioned at a distinguished gathering in Mumbai, India later this year. Then this peice is auctioned off in India for charity.by “KHUSHI “is a national organization working for the upliftment of the poor and destitute communities in both rural and urban India. I am very honored and excited to have been chosen to do this project with a very eminent Indian here in Atlanta who I look up to and am very proud of. Its going to be an exciting project as we create a painting together.
GAT: Do you have any exhibition being plan for metro Atlanta or the Southeast in the near future.
My next project is on May 25. I will be a part of the Decatur Art Walk My work will be exhibited at the wonderful new location of Gado Gado Arts and Home Accesseroies at 431-1 West Ponce De Leon Avenue in Decatur.
View Malika’s artwork: www.malikagarrett.com