Every so often, there comes an artist that helps us to interpret the world as we know it through their vision. Even if for a mere second, their art pieces can transport us into the depths of their deepest thoughts and release a silent scream we simply can’t ignore. Today’s contemporary art curators owe a monumental debt to the ‘brave ones’ who didn’t take no for an answer. Like most things in life begging to be defined, ‘art’ is left to varied interpretations; what many may see as dull and boring will spark an ingenious idea in another.
By definition ‘art’ is viewed as a honed skill —depicted or applied. So to the question, “what is art?” then, one might elucidate that art defines beauty, art is imaginative, art is creative, intellectually provocative, awe-inspiring and revolutionary. But if you were to dip your hands into the foreverness of Shelita Dietrich’s mind, you’d find that it embodies all these traits and much more; potently and poetically redefining ‘art’ as we know it. Having strong German genes, her creative characteristics are almost inevitable.
“I have been doing art for about twenty years now,” Shelita explains while succinctly listing her inspirations which include the legendary Barrington Watson. “I first discovered my gift at the age of six when I duplicated a piece from a colouring book that I had and my mom became really excited about it, but to me it wasn’t a big deal, but from there I would reimagine cartoon characters and put my spin on them.”
“Growing up, you know the societal norms include becoming a teacher or doctor or lawyer, so for me to say that I’d want to be an artist my classmates would look at me like, ‘huh?’ So I took a break from doing art when I was in high school,” she explains. “I wasn’t driven to take it up again until I was pregnant with my son. I would say that I had a spiritual connection with him where I had a vision of his hands coming through my tummy and holding mine and I did a drawing of that and since then I just kept drawing. After his birth, I did a self-portrait of us together and a lot of persons said it really looked unique and from there I never looked back.”
“I’m pretty much self-taught,” she confesses as she explains that the first time she did face painting was at a big event and she had little to no knowledge in doing it. But of course, when an opportunity presents itself you simply don’t walk away. Certainly, as a creative individual, you have to be faithful to your own vision, to art and self-expression, but with anything in life there comes challenges that will define your character and how far you’re willing to go. Sometimes as humans we feel enormous admiration for something that others admire, then we lose the proper criterion; which seems to be an issue with the world of art today.
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #4– September-October 2017