Finding Gurnain Kaur.

Illustration to me was always about sketching. However, I realized I could present thoughts in a different manner through styling. It is fun, it is refreshing and it's a different kind of perspective. Spaces and frames have always been my inspiration. The best part about art is that your work can at times be so personal, it can be all about you. And sometimes it's all about finding yourself.

And I just know.

It was two years back when it took me a lot of courage to ask one of my teachers "how do you know whether you want to work for a designer or for a company?" I was always this shy kid you see. The kind who would NEVER go and ask a teacher if something bothered me, twisted as that sounds, its true. But the thing is, I finally did and the reply she gave me, with a very knowing look on her face, has remained with me ever since: "By the end of the 4th year, you will know. It just happens."

Trust me, I wasn't very happy with her answer. But somehow, i chose to trust her in a weird sort of a way. And today, two years down the line...I know how damn well right she was. You just know. It is liberating and empowering at the same time.

I remember, I had this compulsive obsession with barbies. I had tons of them, believe me. I had their entire families..., ken dolls, kelly, skipper....barbie magazines....barbie stories...entire wardrobes. Anything, you can think of: From their bathrooms to their kitchens to even their Gardens! In short, I had more barbies, than friends.

I would sit in my room and play the entire day. Alone. Creepy as it may sound, but that obsession is what I understand now. Dressing up those dolls has subconsciously stayed in me all these years. I walk down the corridors of my college and look at people as they pass...and i see flashes of them in a an entirely different look. In an entirely different perspective. A complete makeover, a dramatic transformation. Its as if God is talking. I see what they can be. These common earthlings...transformed into a styled version of their own potentials. They are beautiful in my eyes...each and every one of them. They are my canvases...real and energetic, pulsing  with life. What could be more attractive than that? What more could i want my artwork to be?

Real people: Styled...worked on... conceptualized...dressed up...polished and smoothed out.

And just like that I know, I could do this forever. Styling. Turning people into something more.

My people. My vision. My canvases.

Quote.

Stop being afraid of your own pictures, stop worshiping art, treat it the Polish way, condescendingly, make it obedient, and then your originality will release itself in you, new roads will open in front of you and you will gain what is most valuable, most fertile: your own reality.

— GOMBROWICZ

The work we breathe.

Illustration during class.

Exceptional perspectives

The woman.

An illustration I did based on a poem i wrote...

The big fight.

“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can 
gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the 
business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and 
whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles 
unto death”

—

Leonardo da Vinci






Do you believe in you? Ask yourself. Its an odd question. Rather abrupt. However, think about it. 


The world will drag you down, make no mistake. It might just plummet you, pound you and leave you broken. But that is when the self comes in. That is when they know if you're strong. The world will hate your guts too. They pass by, indifferent to your burning passion, the alive enthusiasm that burns inside you. Its almost painful. But reality was never meant to be the icing in your cake. The icing is always a decoration....an extravagance. And extravagance is never what life really is. That world, nature...everything that works in this world...works with a pure primal function. Everything is mere need. Connecting each life form with another. The reason to awe nature is not how beautiful it is...but how everything is with purpose. The reason for existing is a basic function...which is acutely simple. Extravagance ...well is an added accessory. That we created. Because humans cant bear simplicity. Its a fact. 


The irony, however, enters the picture when you study in NIFT. 
This is the one place on earth...where extravagance flourishes. It doesn't matter if you're extravagant or not...that's what works. You dont have to be you. You have to be what you are expected to be. However, people if you've made it this far into this national institute of fashion, fighting through tons and tons of people...and entered this godforsaken haven of bittersweet...then turn your hearts into stone and put your mind to focus. They will give you a tough ride...so tough infact...that it's difficult to remain what you want to be. But thats the real fight. Not a 9.5 grade, not a best student award...but the fight is for the self. The fight is, like always, between your right and their right. 


Its not for the weak hearted to enter. It'll take you down so fast, you wont know what hit you. Survival is the major need here. Not just a physical survival...but an emotional one too. Keep your head up and your eyes wide open. Walk straight into them if you have to. But DONT budge. A few bruises here and there...maybe...but make 'yourself' worth fighting for. Believe.