SumaraLaika
Image: Hannah Faith Oni
Pictured: Artist SumaraLaika
Creativity feels like the sound of wind in leaves, closing my eyes and listening to the air play the trees like chimes.
Letting sounds move from side to side painting swirly shapes in my mind's eye.
My approach to my practice and my life is the idea that everything is connected to the cause of my purpose, if I am living in my authenticity then everything I am doing contributes to that. My innate callings in life that I have no reason for doing besides that fact that they resonate with my spirit. I try not to ask why I'm called but just to follow the calling where it leads me.. my greatest experiences as an artist have come from blindly following intuition. I have been drawn to drawing and making since a young age and find myself to be a sensitive creative soul so I relate my wellness directly to my creative expression. Making keeps me sane and is a part of my daily functioning, a ritual if you will.
Keeping in tune with my creative inner child gives me a feeling a real genuine comfort and lets me have a light perspective on life that I feel can get lost in the life lived in this days society, It allows me to look at everything for inspiration almost like I’m seeing it for the first time, I get this joy the most from observing nature and use a lot of references to natural forms in my work. I think it's comforting to the nervous system when visual aspects of design reflect nature, well at least mine does.
“And I try to have this experience as often as I can so not focus too much on the politics of existence but more so existence itself.”
Image: Hannah Faith Oni
Sumara pictured with a White Lily. Also known as the Madonna Lily, they bloom in late Spring and early Summer. They are native to the Balkans and Middle East. The White Lily has for a centuries been used as a symbol of rebirth and purity.
It's hard for me not to vaguely ramble about life in general when I speak about my motivations for what I do. I sometimes find that when creating art there’s a pressure to make with a specific concept and message and I tend to create based on the emotion and feeling of existence, even when It’s unclear and words can’t seem to pin it down accurately. A lot of the time I don’t have conscious reasoning for why my expression takes the forms it does but it's mostly led by a feeling I get when I practice my rituals for inspiration and I just go from there. I've learnt so much about myself through art both through my own practice and watching others at their craft. But the biggest lesson for me so far has been that it's ok for my art to simply be an expression and to not overcomplicate my process by trying so hard to intellectualise my why. In other words to let it just be, and I try to apply that to all aspects of my life. As an over-thinker that can sometimes be hard for me but it lets me slowdown and be more in the present moment when I’m navigating through.
I think that through lemonade I just want to share my experience and remind people it's ok to quiet the mind in the process. Let the calling guide and come to the why’s after. We are the observers of existence and to always seek the feeling of inspiration that surrounds us and use it to drive you in the direction of your authentic purpose. If it feels otherly, steer clear because life is too short for shoulda, coulda, wouldas. Give thanks for existence always.