Third-year fine arts major at the University of Guyana Daniel Diaram’s talent has evolved over the years from drawing cartoons to painting some pretty incredible pieces, but it was never his intention to have a career in art.
In fact, Daniel had his sights set on dentistry and had even gotten into the Science stream as he wanted but then his fascination with the subject waned as the work seemed difficult. Wanting to combat the stress and find a new interest, Daniel returned to his childhood fascination with drawing and delved into exploring his creativity.
After some time, he realized that it was more than a pastime for him. Before he graduated from Brickdam Secondary School, Daniel had already arrived at the conclusion that he wanted to be an artist. He began spending more of his time learning new and advanced techniques by watching YouTube tutorials. That was seven years ago.
Since enrolling at UG, Daniel has been doing illustrations in pencil and coloured pencils. His studies have seen him learning digital paintings but his main focus at present is oil paintings. Most of his work surrounds realism.
Initially, the art student had begun dabbling with acrylic but for him this medium had a flat texture finish whereas oil paints provided a more realistic look.
Having taken his art to a professional level within the last two years, Daniel has completed an average of 21 pieces. His clients include family, friends, people who have seen his work on social media and others who reached out for him to do portraits of loved ones. Some of his pieces were done on commission, while others were ones he did for himself but subsequently sold.
Daniel takes pride in the pieces he creates. His proudest piece to date is a recreation of the Mona Lisa. With his role model being Leonardo Da Vinci, it is no wonder that the replica of the painting is such a big deal to him. Daniel explained that he learnt the legendary artist spent his entire life creating the masterpiece, though it only took him a month to complete his replica of it.
In fact, if there was ever anyone Daniel wished he could have met, it would be Da Vinci. The artist said he would certainly want to hear firsthand how it was that the Mona Lisa creator first began as an artist and the journey he endured at a time when no one was teaching art.
Daniel said he would ask his advice and beseech him to teach him all his secrets.
Daniel is also inspired by another artist from the Renaissance period, Italian sculptor Michelangelo. Added to his shortlist is surrealist painter Salvador Dali. “Salvador Dali focused more on surrealism… He created pieces that are out of this world and rejects realism and the principles where some say art should be perfect or what we see it to be. Even though I love realism and do realism, the fact that he rejected it and created something beyond that is what inspires me to want to dive into surrealism sometime in the future,” shared the artist.
Two other pieces he is proud of are portraits of the late Black Panther star, Chadwick Boseman and physicist Albert Einstein.
Artists, Daniel said, see the world from a different perspective. He described his bunch as people who have come out of the “loop” of people in the world who just get by or merely survive. He added that artists have learnt to live and through their work, people in the loop are granted a different view of the world and a chance to live life instead of survive, which invites them to get out of the loop.
Sourcing oil paints here can be quite the challenge, as he usually only finds small pots, so he orders the larger pots online. They last up to a year. Other materials like paint brushes and canvas rolls, he sources from Blooming Creative and Pinch Creative Expressions.
“Me creating a piece is me leaving a mark behind after I’m gone; it’s my signature. If I were to do a 9-5 job, I could easily be replaced anytime but a painting, you could never replace the artist creating that painting. When painting I think to myself, this is a piece of me that I will be leaving behind, this is a part of my own original talent that I’m contributing to the world. Accomplishing it in the end, I think to myself, wow, I did this, no one else did this. It’s this feeling of accomplishment that keeps me going,” said the artist.
It is a challenge being an artist in Guyana, Daniel said. Sometimes he gets discouraged when he posts his work online and people who are fascinated change their mind after hearing the price, or he never hears from them again. While he is working towards being a full-time artist, Daniel knows that does not happen overnight and he is certainly in for the long haul. As such, his goal is to run a game shop while he does art on the side on commission.
Daniel argued that while we boast about our local talents, the support is lacking. “It makes me feel frustrated because I’m trying so hard every day to put out work,” he said. “It [disappoints] me that local artists are not getting the support from their country but persons are still supporting artists from other countries.”
He noted that with art being a contributing factor to everything in the world, he wishes more could be done. If he was someone in authority, Daniel would first ensure that artists can have
materials easily sourced locally and for cheaper. The talented young man said he would create various initiatives that would educate on how important art is, which would encourage Guyanese to support the local arts. He added that in a time like today where a pandemic exists and many are depressed and frustrated by it, art can create a less stressed environment.
Another issue Daniel would look into is having more art galleries or at least having more branches of Castellani House located in different parts of Guyana.
In his free time, he likes to play video games and watch thriller/crime series. He has just completed the Netflix series “You”. Watching these in between his pieces helps him to unwind and get his creative juices flowing again.
While art in Guyana does not get much support, Daniel gets the world of support from his mother and his small circle of friends.
“I’m not at that stage where I can give old man wisdom, but what I can say to aspiring artists is not to let people tell you what kind of art you should do,” he admonished.
“I experienced that. When I was doing paintings, people would tell me, ‘you should do this type of painting, you should do that type of painting’. But, you shouldn’t let people tell you what you should do. Do the kind of painting that makes you feel at the end of the day like you’ve accomplished what you set out to do.
“Remember too that success doesn’t come overnight. Even the big artists that we know about had to keep trying again and again before they gained [recognition]. Keep working, you don’t have to paint every day, paint, relax, think and keep going. Make sure you have a plan B to feed your [passion] for art because art can be difficult to pursue.
“My advice is not only for artists who paint but all artists.”
Daniel’s work can be viewed on the Facebook page Elysium Arts.
