Chelsea Ram
Starts to ‘bloom’ as
Chelsea Ramotar has been spinning a web of awe with her sculptures and just recently her latest piece ‘Bloom’ was selected as the ‘National Gift’ and presented at this year’s Miss World Auction.
The 21-year-old final-year student at the University of Guyana, who is reading for a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, shared that ‘Bloom’ began as an observation and came from the concept of change in a person’s life at some point or another. “The concept was change and that change is necessary, and change is good. I wanted to find a way to illustrate this in a way that would peak people’s interest. When I think of change, I think of getting rid of something old to bring about something new. The head on the sculpture’s lap is the old version and the flower blooming is the new version,” Chelsea said. She noted that the old head was staring up at the new version of itself, understanding and accepting that change is necessary and only though change are we able to bloom.
Most of ‘Bloom’ was made of chipped pinewood that was glued together, while the head was sculpted and the blossoming flower atop made from wood carvings to present the final product.
The talented young woman who grew up in Berbice, attended New Amsterdam Primary prior to moving to the Bahamas. Speaking about her love for art, Chelsea shared that she had been colouring and doodling from a tender age and although she was exposed to a wider variety of art forms on the Caribbean island through social media, it was not until she returned to Guyana that she decided to pursue the subject. Many of her doodles were basically drawings of her family. Asked whether she ever got into trouble because of her drawings, Chelsea said she was always a diligent student, so it never crossed her mind to be doing anything besides listening to her teacher once work was being done.
Speaking about how involved her parents were in her passion, Chelsea noted that they always ensured there were enough crayons and paper whenever she needed them.
The artist said communication was one of her biggest challenges as she had always been timid and when she did try to be verbal, she didn’t quite know how to get her ideas across. Painting and sculpting provided the means for her to do She b m