A young artist with a vision

Art column: A young artist with a vision Art World Kinjal Trivedi A young artist with a vision “The world needs artists and designers as much as it does doctors and engineers, because designers have the ability to make life easier and better for the society.” ~ Tamara Divina Esmeralda Borges Tamara is a shy girl when you see her but once you see her art work, there is so much power in the hand strokes and the direction of her drawings. She uses many different mediums to express her thoughts. In the world where being an academic scholar student is a matter of pride, it's such a refreshing change when a young girl like Tamara chooses to become an artist and has already enrolled in the ‘college of her dreams’ as she proudly says — Industrial Arts and Design Practices course at Srishti Manipal Institute, Bangalore. Tamara is from the state of Goa that has rich historic amalgamation of culture and tradition. Soft spoken and mindful, Tamara says, “My love for art began when my mother took me to my first art show when I was six, Mario Miranda’s art gallery. I remember making my mother buy me his books. I was so mesmerised with his art and till date he remains my favourite artist. That’s when I began drawing, started making cards for all my relatives birthdays and being encouraged to make art.” “As I grew older my skills got better and there was a part of me that wanted to be a professional artist, but like most children I thought of becoming a dentist or a surgeon. It was when I was in the 10th grade that my mother took me for a career guidance test, where I was told that I would do best in the creative field and so I began to pursue the idea of being an architect as that seemed to be a more professional career than an artist to me then. But as I thought deeper about it I realised that being an architect isn’t going to make me happy. My new dream was to be a designer so I began researching about institutes that offered various courses in art and came across multiple great institutes that offered a course in design, and after much hard work and dedication I was able to get enrolled in the institute of my dreams.” Tamara has a vision for when she passes out of her art school. Being an artist is not only making the world a happier or a better place by playing with paints and canvas like many people do and calling themselves a ‘creative professional’ there is a sense of responsibility that comes along with designing and making functional designs. “What I am aiming to do here is to enhance my current skills and to learn as many new ones as I can. I want to get a lot of experience learning and working with all sorts of people. I want to work in different fields of art and want to be able to achieve my goal of starting my own company. “My thoughts on being an art student as opposed to ‘normal’ perception of kids pursuing MBA and Engineering is that, being a professional doctors and lawyers is great, but at the same being a professional in the field of art is equally important. Because if doctors are able to fix your body, then artists are able to do the same with your soul. The world needs artists and designers as much as they do doctors and engineers, because designers have the ability to make life easier and better for society. Art, Craft and Design introduces people to a wide range of practical and intellectual skills. It plays a crucial role at the centre of human society, so I think parents and teachers should encourage more children towards pursuing careers in Art. Also its fun, that’s one of the most important factors ‘Fun’, because whatever you do in life, you have to love doing it, and for me that’s making art.” Tamara is a bright young artist with a vision who wants to learn the right techniques of art in a formal art school to express herself in the language of her choice.