An Artist’s Work Is Never Finished – A Peek Into The World of Goan Artist Karishma D’Souza

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul and paints his own nature” – Henry Beecher Ward.

Good old Henry seems to know what he’s talking about. Me, on the other hand, not so much. I know nothing about art. I am probably not even qualified to write this article. Thankfully it’s not completely about art so I think I am safe.

I have, however, known this brilliant Goan artist Karishma D’Souza since we were about 10 years old. We definitely go back a long way. The girl has always been insanely creative and extremely talented at anything related to art and craft when we were in school. I still have a drawing of Garfield that she drew for me in one of my old notebooks. All from memory.

The Goan Artist’s Background

Karishma was actually born in Mumbai (then Bombay) in December 1983. She spent most of her life in Goa, studying at Sharada Mandir School in Miramar and then at Our Lady of The Rosary High School in Dona Paula.

It was at Our Lady of the Rosary High School (or Green Rosary, as it is better known) that her art teacher and classmates discovered how talented she was. Karishma lived in a world of her own and was constantly doodling in her notebooks in class.

She even came up with a very cute series of drawings for all her friends in school based on the all-girl pop music group The Spice Girls. The only difference was that she christened them ‘The Spice Kids’ and drew these 5 girls as little children in the cutest themed outfits.  Unfortunately, I lost all my drawings when tidying up.

Starting with a Bachelor in Fine Arts (Painting), between 1999 and 2004, at the Goa College of Art, Karishma has come an extremely long way from her days of doodling. She was a Gold Medalist at this level. This was followed by a Master of Visual Arts (Graphic arts – Printmaking), M.S. University of Baroda where she earned yet another Gold Medal.

Since then she has won numerous awards, which she started receiving almost from the beginning, participated in a staggering number of exhibitions in India and abroad and also done a couple of art residencies most specifically in Amsterdam and the USA. If you want to know the entire list, head on to her official page (website is listed towards the end of this article).

Words From The Goan Artist Herself…

“In all her works, memories of places, stories, and people are containers of a psychological world. Drawn from the anchor of lived experiences, the paintings are places of acknowledgment of the dignity of journeys, of stitched together personalities” – Source – http://www.xippas.com/exhibition/karishma-dsouza/

I did ask Karishma what led her to develop such a passion for art and this is what she said, “I traveled as a child with my parents, around India. We went to Akbar’s palaces in Fatehpur Sikri, the Meenakshi Temple complex in Madurai, and Jaipur. These travels opened up history and an imagination which could project one into another time.” 

“However, wanting to be an artist came from seeing thumbnail size reproductions of three paintings, ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Much, ‘Melancholy and Mystery of a Street’ by Chirico, and ‘Kahat Kabir’ by Gulam Mohammed Shaikh. They had a power to dissolve the viewer completely. And form a bridge between me and the image, space which gave me a sense of immense peace. I wanted to keep that space, and have the work I do also give me that breakdown of dichotomies.”

All of Karishma’s works are oil on canvas, in a range of different sizes. Some pieces could even still be up for sale provided you move quickly enough and get in touch with her at [email protected]

What Does The Future Hold For This Brilliant Lady?

Karishma has just returned from an exciting visit abroad where she had an exhibition titled ‘Ancestors’ in Paris at the Galerie Xippas in June 2017. This was followed by a two-month long art residency program at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine, USA.

For now, she is back in her studio in Goa, working on something new (I won’t spill the beans just yet). We shall just have to wait and see what’s next for this brilliant Goan artist. We do wish her all the best in her future endeavors and may the creative juices always keep flowing.

If you still want to know more about this Goan artist, check out her website – Karishma D’Souza – http://karishmadsouza.com/