Shalini Singh was born on 3rd October 1974. She attended Bishop Anstey High School and pursued both BA and M.Phil degrees at the University of the West Indies. A recipient of first class honours and a scholarship, Shalini currently teaches Art at Diego Martin Government Secondary. She also teaches Art History at the Centre for Creative and Festival Arts, U.W.I. She is currently pursuing a doctorate on the life and work of local artist Jackie Hinkson. Shalini has exhibited in several local group exhibitions and her works were shown in New York, Colombia and Miami.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Art is an expression of oneself, one's feelings, moods, thoughts and fears. The artist is literally stripped off all layers and it is the flesh, the blood, the heart and the soul that is exposed on the canvas.
I have been painting for as long as I can recall. It is a tedious, frustrating task; it is a lonely journey along an unpopular path. It is really the artist who knows his/her struggles to engage with media, ideas, the process of creating and the disappointments following the after-creation process of the work. Once the desire to create is there it cannot be ignored - at least it should not be ignored. I feel the need to create what lurks deep within. After all art is a purging experience, a truly profound phenomenon - it is highly personal, a selfish act and a language in its own way.
My paintings are based on experiences, images, ideas from my environment, and from what I see and what I want to see. I set out to reconstruct civilizations by creating imagery both real and imagined. I want to create a new world order from fragments of various cultures. I set out to create a space free from structures, organizations and chaotic struggles. I want to construct a free, lively, exotic, colourful, enchanting and decorative world. with floating forms from the most surreal to the most prosaic, sublime and bizarre. The history of cultures both past and present influence my work. Ancient mythology, symbols, artifacts, drawings and monumental works of civilizations forgotten or recorded in the history books all inspire me.
Sometimes I plan exactly what I paint, other times I allow the idea to flow so that the work evolves spontaneously and the energy, power and excitement influence the outcome of the piece. Sometimes I starve myself from creating so that when I embark on a piece it is with a hungry urge that I create. I want to enliven this space with colour, shape and powerful design. I enjoy using colour - it is truly an extraordinary, God-given gift. I use whatever colour media I can find. Sometimes I resort to eye dust, liquid paper, lipstick, chalk, crayon and even the blue for washing white shirts. I enjoy mixing the strangest palettes to create unique compositions. I usually simplify forms that may be based on historical imagery, or imaginative shapes, or the peculiar and radical - sometimes the forms come from nowhere and nab me when I least expect it. I sit on my canvas moving backward as the work unravels. Sometimes I pin it on a door and study the work for some days, during that time I may add, subtract or playfully repeat forms for balance or focus.
It is my belief that this island's art must reflect a crucible of cultures that we may interact with or yearn to interact with, that we read about, that we show interest in. Trinidad's art must reflect our desire to strive out of this space- a desire to explore - to move beyond our own limitations. Our art must reflect our own aspiration to reach out, to unearth and to aspire even where it may be impossible. After all, life is art and art is life and life should be experienced in its entirety.
Contact:
Tel.: (868) 676 1502
Cell: (868) 763 8922
E-mail:shalinisilky@yahoo.com
