Clay as a Calling

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  In the fall of 2008 my parents unearthed a grade school paper I had written when I was eight years old.  It was entitled “What I Want to be When I Grow Up.” I had written in a child’s scrawl – “I want to be a potter.” Above this caption was a drawing of an adult me on a potters wheel. It was one of those rare moments in your life when everything crystallizes, and suddenly the world makes sense.

  For the past twenty years I have committed my professional life to the arts.  I have managed opera stars and classical instrumentalists, a community orchestra, a music school for the underprivileged, a festival of South Asian Art for the Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans communities, as well as a major international festival of Asian arts. I have worked to raise funds for public television, and Canada’s premiere museum of art and natural history.  I also produced Saturday Afternoon at the Opera for national public radio and most recently created a one-hour documentary on synesthesia called Seeing Sound.  Two years ago I set up my own arts consultancy in strategic planning.

  A year ago I decided to make a radical shift in my life, and instead of facilitating the creative process, I committed to pursuing self-initiated creation.  I enrolled in a three-month intensive apprenticeship program in one of India’s foremost studio potters, and former student of Bernard Leach, Mansimran Singh. At the foothills of the Himalayas, in the small farming community of Andretta, I earnestly acquired the skills of a wheel potter, working sometimes more than eight hours a day, six days a week for twelve weeks.  I found a small studio to share upon my return, and in the spring of 2010, I completed my transition from consultant to potter – full-time.  In the fall of 2010 I realized that I wanted to galvanize my creative energy in an intensive learning environment and I enrolled in the Ceramics Program at Sheridan College, in Oakville, Ontario.

  To date I have been throwing functional objects, experimenting with slips and beginning to make my own glaze recipes.  I know that there is a sculptor inside of me struggling to find her voice. At school, I have pushed the envelope with form and function, have started to dabble in sculpture and created my first installation that reflects my experiences of the south asian diaspora.  I believe that art is a potent vehicle for both social and personal change.  Although I am slowly finding the courage to create with abandon and with passion, I have not yet found my voice, nor have I come to terms with the messages and deeply rooted belief structures that motivate me to create.  At the same time, I find the work immensely rewarding, and it brings me great joy.  This is golden time.  It is time for me to allow myself to unlock my creative potential and begin to delve beneath the subtle surfaces of what really moves me to create, moreover, to discover what am I really try to say through my art.