CONNECTOR.AE 36 CONNECTOR.AE 37 Health and Wellness Health and Wellness Having made it to the top 6, Alicia got the opportunity to meet more like-minded creatives and to experiment with her art on a bigger scale, saying, “Ever since then, I have never looked back. I have been levelling up and diversifying and do not just stick to face or body paint. I like to do a lot of different things, and it contributes to my growth, as an artist and as an individual.” One of her current specialties, however, is body painting, which allows Alicia to use humans as her canvas, and helps the wearer to feel their most confident, by looking past all their flaws and appreciating themselves for who they are. Alicia first started getting into body art when it was a novel concept in 2015, and on sharing her work on social media, ended up receiving requests to create art on dancers and performers that work at clubs, and painting people at concerts and festivals. “For me, when I body paint, I am not painting on a canvas, I am painting on a talking, living, breathing human being.” Alicia added, “I interact with them closely and learn how they feel, and it offers a much deeper connection and process.” Through body art, Alicia has been able to give power to people’s insecurities and help them find a deeper appreciation for themselves while focusing on the beauty humans possess. with a brand that needed a children’s face painter for an event, Alicia offered to help, as no one else could be found at the last minute. Having not painted in a while, at 22 years old, the experience was a nerve-wracking one for her, but reignited her love and passion once again for art. Alicia said, “I had a lot of peace and happiness with doing art and had a real fondness for it. It is total happiness, and I love what I do.” With being completely self-taught, being an artist happened gradually for Alicia, starting with her wanting to learn more and buying face paints, then using them to experiment by painting her face and the people around her. Alicia said, “Being an artist, for me, is more fulfilling on a deeper level. I get to really speak my mind through my work.” Slowly but surely, as she started falling in love with art once more, Alicia started contemplating whether she could do this fulltime rather than as a project on the side. Having now amassed seven years as an artist, the initial years in her career were the hardest for Alicia saying, “The first three of four years were so difficult as I would work everyday and weekend, as well as public holidays, when people close to me would have a day off to celebrate.” However, Alicia chose to look on the bright side, as she knew that despite the first few years being the most challenging, she wanted to make this her career and could not see herself doing anything else, as it gave her immense joy. Her career started with small-scale mall events as a children’s face painter before she started experimenting more with different art mediums. One of the biggest milestones in Alicia’s career as an artist came in 2017, when she participated in one of the biggest beauty awards in the region called the ‘NYX Face Awards’. With body painting, there are so many aspects that Alicia has to consider, from finding the right shades, creating the art catering to their body type and trusting the process to create a stunning end result. Alicia said, “Every challenge has only taught me how not to repeat a mistake, how to work around it or just get better.” As an Indian, Alicia loves taking inspiration from her Indian culture and is heavily inspired by the works of other Indian artists, the people, the music, the food, and the colours. Alicia said, “For me, art is an expression, and it is more of a combination of the multicultural upbringing that I had, and it comes from a deeper place, it is not just commercial. Aside from creating for brands, I also love to have days and shoots with creations that are solely mine, from my brain and are the ones that make me the happiest.” When feeling uninspired, Alicia says, “It’s tough. If there are a few books I have read or shows that I have watched, I like to remind myself of them or read a snippet from it, or
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