Malaika Favorite: The Alchemist

I have worked as a professional artist since receiving my MFA in painting and drawing from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge LA. After receiving my MFA, I worked for several years as an art instructor on the university level, and as an artist-in-residence at a few public and private schools. However, I never had enough time to develop my craft as fully as I wanted to, so in 1995, I made a difficult decision to leave the world of academics to focus full time on art and writing.

I work in a variety of styles and media, depending on the nature and purpose of the work. My studio work usually focuses on a theme; I stay with that theme until I exhaust it, sometimes I revisit the theme after I get more insight into the idea; in this way, I am constantly exploring old and new territory.

It is very difficult to explain a work of art, mostly because the work is its own explanation. Art is not for the immediate audience only, if it was, it would be a prop or backdrop for a play, designed to be viewed for a limited time. Visual art should be timeless. It should speak to each generation, and to each viewer as an endless dialogue that continues to inspire, fascinate and delight.

My goal as an artist is to present a dialogue between the viewer and the work of art, something that reveals a new dimension every time you visit the work.

I am fascinated by creation, the wonder, and amazement of it all. When I take a walk I am dazzled by nature after I receive this sacrament of astonishment, I come in and make art; somehow a small portion of the magic leaks into my painting, a little speck of it, sufficient to make me cry, maybe just enough to make someone else cry and be amazed. That is my inspiration.

—Malaika Favorite