From modern history, I appreciate the most "world wide web". You may find it silly, but how else I would get a chance to meet Malsart! The intense detailing on her paintings is more than captivating. Her art takes you on a journey. Romantically presented as snapshots of emotions, as parts of a much deeper inner journey.
Where are you from? Where does the art journey start for you?
Hi! I am Maldha, I am from the Maldives and you might know me as Malsart on Instagram. The art journey started for me ever since I was practically a toddler scribbling away on a piece of paper and has stuck with me ever since until today where I am 23 years old now!
What is the first emotion that drives you towards creating an art piece? Do you recognize the connection immediately and let yourself flow on the creative process? Or do you "bake" the inspiration for some time?
The first emotion that drives me toward creating an art piece is mostly procrastination. This might sound weird at first, but when I generally get an idea in my head, it takes me forever to actually get it on paper. It is the eventual pressure from my own procrastination that actually lights my mind on fire to go create. However, once I begin I do not know how to stop and could go for hours to the point where I am unable to eat or sleep until I finish the process. Once I get into the flow, it is almost as if my mind cant stop until the vision in my head lays out before me.
What is the back story of your design? Because every one of us sees the world through separate lenses. How hard it must be to transfer it to other people?
The backstory for my art has always been everything around me practically. It started off with a lot of experimentation. From still life, to pan pastels, to watercolors and then eventually on to oil paints and impasto, which are my main mediums. It has definitely been a process, as my style has also evolved as I experimented from surrealism, to hyperrealism now. As for the transferring my vision to other people, I generally do not mind and actually prefer to see the way other people interpret my work. I think its very fascinating what people have to say about it, even if its constructive criticism.
When it comes to making a living from your art, what are the main struggles? And what would be your advice for starting artists?
As a full time artist, the main struggle I have personally faced has been mostly limitations I have to deal with due to my demographic. Coming from a small South Asian country practically forgotten & surrounded by the deep blue sea, the main challenge is the lack of a proper art community, along with lack of access to proper art supplies. This causes great hassles in terms of meeting deadlines, and finishing projects as sometimes I might have to wait about a month to receive a certain shade of paint as we have to order it from abroad and wait ages to receive it.
I have been lucky enough for my art to be recognized through social media as the opportunities I have received have mainly been through that, so the advice I would have for starter artists is to try to put your work out there for people to see and to continuously experiment until you find your groove so you can perfect what work for you best. Most importantly though, it is important to recognize that this is a difficult industry to grow in, and as a result a strong spirit and drive to create is essential to grow as an individual in this industry. However, it is also important to remember to not overwork yourself to the point that you enter art block, so finding and maintaining a healthy balance is crucial.
What do you prefer, single pieces or storytelling through a whole project? And what approach do you use in each case?
I prefer single pieces as I like the idea of each piece encompassing and mirroring its own world to the viewer without having any correlation to the pieces around them. I try to make each individual piece stand out in terms of giving it certain life so that it can stand out on it’s own. That is usually the approach in most cases!
Why do you use certain materials? What connects you with them, and makes you feel they are perfect for your art piece?
I use oil paint and impasto specifically because of how the texture looks and feels. I feel like oil paints are what feels most fluid for me, and it helps me blend and mix as I please while leaving such a nice consistency and hues. The impasto and the texture are my favorite parts of the painting process, as this is what I use to give my paintings the depth. The marriage of oil paint and impasto come together to make my paintings look so vivid and full of life, and that is why I feel like they are perfect for my art pieces.
What does ART, in general, mean to you?
Art to me is a form of salvation. It has helped me make the most out of life. Art is so important to me because it contributes greatly to who I am as a person and my way of expressing and regulating my emotions because I am not a very vocal person about most things. More than anything, art has helped me find out about who I am as a person, and has been one of the consistent things in my life that has always been there for me, so as a result art is very important to me and something I hold dear to me.
The FOURLINEdesign team would like to thank Maldha for sharing inspiring thoughts with our community.