The artist goes by the name of Manvi Walter. She is currently pursing Psychology and Fine Arts and further wishes to explore careers in both realms with the aim of spreading the love for art. She has been practicing Art and its mediums since she could barely walk as a child. According to her, art flows amongst everyone and in everything they do- even something as complex as physics or math. There is an art in mastering what you love to do, she believes, and encourages seeing that art itself is an important field to pursue if one is interested. Her style evolved from simple sketches, to mastering oil and acrylic paints, to abstract realism. She believes that there is always room to learn and grow as a creator.
"If I were to be honest, I do not know how to describe what Art means to me. Over the years, it has taken so many shapes and forms in my life that I feel like it is a part of me that grows with me as I do. Initially, it was just something I enjoyed doing because I loved the bright colors that splashed on the paper. As the years went by, I understood there is so much more to art than the simple splashes. I learned methods, techniques and read about how people created what they thought was artistic. I came to understand that art flows through and around us at all times. Mastering cooking is an art, not giving up in solving the most complex equations- all of it, it is art. From mere portraits with pencil, to exploring the area of abstract realism with oil paints on canvas and beyond; I have learned more than I could explain, and I still have a long way to go.
Coming to Canada as an international student who wanted to give her artistic skills an opportunity to run wild, I can say it was one of the best decisions I have ever taken. My university, and this city of Fredericton has given me opportunities - big or small - I am grateful for all of them. Being able to say that I am now a published artist in three different magazines, being able to hold workshop with students, be a part of a couple exhibitions and that too most of them led by students, and also putting them up in local joints of the city has been a journey and I could not be more proud of where I have come. I want to see that art is equally as important as any other field. Children who are only stepping in the shallow waters of wanting to explore the world of arts, I wish to be a professor one day so I can help them see how amazing it is and how much potential it has.
My inspirations lie in a mosaic of places and people ranging from basic objects that I grew up around, to artists like Dali, Van Gogh, Monet, Javier Marin, J. M. Basquiat, and Mike Dargas. The hyper-realistic artworks done by Dargas are something that heavily influenced my work, and my love for oil paints and portraits. I have been trying to perfect my hand over the textures and paints, adding my style whilst learning how he does it and it has been so insightful to watch all the pieces he puts work to.
I have started to divide my work into series, and the first one that I ever worked on was called the "Expressionist." In this series, I found muses in photographs of random people and the aim was to pick expressions so extreme and uncommon that we hesitate to show or scared even, and show them through simple sketches. This was a simple art journal project that I still go back to time and again because it is refreshing. The canvas series involves "Melanin" and "Melting points" which are currently something I am also working on. Melanin is my ode to all the people of color, and showing them in their most natural and beautiful self. I feel like they deserve more recognition and love, which is the purpose of this project. Melting points is my most recent project which involves me playing around with just black and white, minimal color in focus, and the project involves abstract realism over any muse I pick. The results have been so good that I might continue this further in the months. I also did a smaller project that involved me finding the most common objects that I looked at growing up, seeing inspiration as well as the artistic beauty in them and drawing them as a tribute to my roots. This one was called "Riwayaat" which roughly translates to Tradition. I channel who I am through art, I pour myself in the pieces I make. A lot of it is rooted from all the times I was struggling personally with issues and it turned out to be an escape. I don't expect everyone to understand and perceive the piece with that same perspective but perhaps that new look could help them with something entirely different. Even if it is as simple as a portrait, it does tell a story behind that relates to the artist and the intentions as to why they decided to make it. I simply love art, and I want to spread and influence people as much as I can with it."
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