KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — Humans are creatures of emotions but expressing them is not always easy.
Vishaka Jivan, who was diagnosed with autism at 20 months, found it even tougher to emote and empathise than most children.
Fortunately, at age 12, Vishaka discovered art as an outlet to channel his feelings under the guidance of his art teacher Joice Chong from Dragonfly Art Cottage.
Making the canvas and colours his best friends, Vishaka nurtured his creative spirit by doodling his thoughts, feelings and experiences and eventually dived into the world of abstract arts.
Now, at the age of 25, the budding artist is all set to display his artwork at his solo art exhibition later this month.
Vishaka regards nature as a muse that inspires him to produce vibrant artistic expressions of animals, birds and flowers.
Using nature as his backdrop, Vishaka also embeds the life experiences that he treasures on the canvas.
His masterpieces include tender portrayals of moments shared with his mother and the joyful relationship that he had with his childhood toy train, Thomas the Engine.
Currently, Vishaka is undergoing employability skills training at Bloomers, where he continues to develop independent living skills.
His Vishaka’s Magic on Canvas art exhibition will take place from 10am to 2pm on Dec 16 at the Kalamandapam Hall in Brickfields.
* A previous version of this story contained an error which has since been corrected.
