Marisha Peter, a 28-year-old girl, followed her true calling and quit her BDS course to take up art full-time. According to her, dance and arts have always fascinated her. Even while pursuing her medical career, she did not give up her love for the two. She said, “Throughout my BDS course I was keeping up with my course work, learning dance, teaching and practicing for dance competitions. I was absolutely content, on track to becoming a dentist and helping people.”
However the going got tough. She succumbed to a knee injury forcing her to take time off her dental course. This is when she realised that art was her true calling. She said, “My body and my mind felt caged and I was so lost. Art was where I found myself. Eventually when I started creating my art pieces, it was a surreal experience. There was no point in getting back to college. I just found out my calling a few years later than most, and I thank God everyday that I found art or art found me,” she added.
The turning point was when she met someone working with the United Nations in February 2014. A few months later, she got a call from the representative of the Malaysian counterpart of International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Marisha was asked if she would be interested in working with them on a project for an exhibit for the Launch of the Human Rights Week 2014, focusing on creating a series highlighting the positive contributions of migrant workers (MW) in Malaysia. Soon, she pitched her ideas for this project and created nine pieces of art titled Journey of Hope, tackling each of the major issues faced by the MW.
After months of gruelling work, she exhibited her work across five stages in Malaysia in Dec 2014. Her series got a good response from the youth in Malaysia. She said, “As I watched the crowd, most of them were quiet and pondering, some came up to me with a lot of questions eager to know more about the issue, my process behind the creations and why I chose to approach the issue in this unique way.”
This campaign along with her exhibits is still touring around Malaysia. In the most recent of events, students at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University Malaya, in Malaysia used these art series to understand the MW issue. “Hopefully this will restore the dignity and respect to MWs,” she adds.
Marisha is working on a private series of portraits. A possible project with the LGBT community is underway. She has also been accepted to study classical realism at Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy.
