THE ARTIST, JAI SOL
THE MIND, CHARACTER AND SPIRIT BEHIND THE CREATIVITY
artist
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Jai Sol is a self-taught visual artist from the north of England. People, culture and spirituality inspire his life and creativity. He observes the world around him and creates interpretations of what he sees, thinks and feels. Each piece depicts subjects and themes that have inspired and influenced his journey, a record of his actual experiences and thoughts. Jai's art is a blend of paintings, illustrations, photography and digital editing. He fuses traditional and modern artistic methods to create textured, atmospheric aesthetics that convey narrative and messages in the old and new style.
With over twenty years of experience in art, publishing and exhibiting, Jai has established
a reputation as an authentic artist with a loyal following of patrons, collectors and admirers worldwide who support his creativity and vision.
person
Before the art, Jai overcame a lifetime of challenges to feel free to create from the heart. For most of his early life, he felt disillusioned and detached from the world he experienced. He was overwhelmed by a wealth of ideas from two cultures and traditions he inherited and was forced to adopt. Jai was exposed to a profound sensory experience at home, full of colours, sounds, tastes relating to spiritual practices from South Asia. Outside of that environment, he was encouraged to conform to British values, western beliefs and behaviours. Both entities inspired and empowered Jai but led to confusion and uncertainty. He questioned his identity, purpose, and place in his family and the wider community and was unsure of who he truly was. This unknowing carved a large portion of Jai's childhood and adult life, distorting his outlook and understanding of life. After facing some traumatic events that impacted everything that mattered to Jai, he decided to evolve beyond this ambiguous position. Through art and creativity, the truly unknown, an evolution took shape.
On the eve of the year two thousand, at the age of twenty-four, Jai chose to renounce his old life, name, and connections to people. He decided to devote his time and energy to the unknown, to look inwards and allow the imagination to guide him to self-discovery. He closed the door to the outside world and committed sixteen years studying art, philosophy and spirituality. In that process, he rediscovered his authenticity, purpose and confidence to express himself from his intuition. Over this long, painful and extraordinary period, Jai gained a true awareness of himself as a person and created a vast collection of artworks inspired by his unique journey.
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producer
Visual art is Jai's passion and primary source of output. However, he has experimented with video and audio to express ideas further. He has developed documentaries, podcasts and films that journal his experiences as an independent artist and a person navigating through life.
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The documentaries take place in working-class communities in England and feature interactions with everyday people. The podcasts feature interviews with talented visual artists from around the world. The short films explore the phycology of art and creativity and include 3D animation and audio visualisation to convey perception, cognition and characteristics of art and its production.
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exhibitor
Jai draws inspiration from his interactions with people. He genuinely enjoys presenting his work and learning how others perceive and feel about it. He aims to guide the viewer to the details and subjects, offering them a moment to absorb the art and express their personality, thoughts and insights. Each exchange is monumental and provides new perspectives and friendships.
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Jai's exhibiting journey began in 2012, displaying at temples, churches, care homes, market stalls and labour clubs in Lancashire, England. Each experience was positive and led to further opportunities to exhibit and meet communities of people. Just six years later, Jai was honoured with the opportunity to display for the Royal Family, the Prime Minister of India and at several private events hosted by Prince Charles. His art featured at Wembley stadium in front of a capacity audience with 2.3 billion viewers live on television and has projected at major fashion shows, spiritual events, music concerts and wellbeing festivals in Europe and South Asia.
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collaborator
Photographs are at the heart of Jai's creative process and often the base for his art. He replicates and manipulates them using digital tools, fusing them with paint, illustration and other artistic methods. He reinvents the photographs so they appear as living, breathing artworks.
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Jai discovered his unique process of infusing multiple elements with photography early on in his artistic journey.
He explored his unique process with photos taken by photographers who showcased original themes and distinctive styles in their work. He searched for pictures related to his interests, and curiosities and began to dialogue and collaborate with small group of independent photographers. Over four years they experimented
and tested his process and collectively produced raw materials and ideas for art. The experiments led to incredible work, both aesthetically and in meaning. Over an extended period, he travelled to America, India, Dubai, and Europe to collaborate with many gifted photographers.
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innovator
In 1996, digital technology and its applications for creative work became available. Jai was fortunate to have access to this technology while studying fine art and new media at college. The idea of developing art with pixels fascinated Jai. He soon began to explore the software, merging photographs with digital imagery and fine art samples. He created visuals that combined several artistic processes and styles. He later merged 3D and other artistic mediums with digital. For Jai, this new technology allowed for unlimited experimentation and integration with other art-based elements, unlike traditional methods.
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In 2001, Jai's expanded his knowledge further and explored 4d, now known as virtual art. He adopted multidimensional applications into his process and practices. After twenty years of integrating traditional with modern styles in his work, Jai, today is perfectly positioned to transform his vast collections into virtual art. He is currently experimenting with the latest in creative technologies, fusing his digitally crafted art with virtual reality, immersion design and 3d mapping.​
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contributor
Jai's early experiences in life, and at first hand, witnessing inequality and prejudice, motivated him to represent social issues in his work. As an artist, with a license to express freely, he wanted to use his creativity to communicate collective challenges in both his community and the wider world. He firmly believed that through art, he could convey circumstances, perspectives, and stories of people in need of support.
Over ten years, Jai created several artworks to raise awareness and funds for social causes worldwide. His first donation in 2007 was for a child trafficking campaign in Bangladesh which led to further opportunities to support. His art contributed to children's hospices in Manchester, the British Asian Trust in London, the literature festival in Delhi and many other organisations worldwide. His most rewarding contribution was as an art teacher, volunteering at orphanages and underprivileged schools across India.
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teacher
In the fall of 2008, Jai began a journey which eventually led him to experience the world differently. He was no longer interested in chasing conceptual ideas of success or accomplishment. He wanted to break free from conditioning and abandoned his material possessions and lifestyle to explore South Asia as a homeless artist. He travelled through villages and cities, mainly in rural, India, meeting people and making art with them. His experiences were diverse and filled with profound realisations about his life and theirs.
After several months of travel, he returned to the UK to develop a series of art-themed workshops for children. His vision was to introduce the experience of creativity to young people living on the streets, in orphanages and refugee camps. He wanted to offer the kids a moment of self-empowerment, the freedom to express at will and to explore their creativity further, hoping they integrate the feeling into their thinking and awareness.
In 2011, Jai launched workshops at a school in north India where he taught underprivileged children. The experience was life-changing and encouraged him to seek opportunities to share his creative workshop experiences.
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designer
Jai enjoys creating graphic design solutions with imagery and has developed a substantial portfolio for professionals worldwide. His career as a designer began in 2003. He was contracted to generated brand concepts and visuals for a well-known dance organisation in England. The campaign was a huge success and opened the doors to several other opportunities to display his design skills.
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Over nine years, he designed dynamic and effective art for corporate brands, products, services and events.
He worked closely with clients to establish their concepts and create bespoke visuals conveying their commercial aims and objectives. He provided an end-to-end service from initial consultation, concept development, photoshoots, design creation, publishing and everything in between.
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