Mobile Artists on Their Artistry – Interview with Sarah Bichachi from Connecticut, United States

I am an artist who come from a new emerging art form known as Mobile Art which utilize mobile tools such as iPhones or iPads to create art. I am interdisciplinary in a way since i use different art disciplines in my work… photography, digital painting, surrealism, poetry and technology (through apps)… all of which are incorporated in my work as those tiny moments of epiphany unravels in the process. My birth in this art form came in a dark moment of an existential threat, thus the realisation that other than light… in that paradoxical state of human existence… emotions can become sublime concoctions of form and color giving rise to a thing of beauty in spite of the odds.

I actually had no plans of delving deep into Mobile Art or anything, for that matter, because of my unstable health condition, so I never really thought of creating a name other than my real one. But now that I somehow surpassed my life sentence, I should be starting to create one, shouldn’t I?

Being an only child raised by parents of diverse origins is challenging. But learning value systems from two different cultures have contributed so much in my development mentally, physically, and spiritually. As for my artistry… well… music and dance I genetically inherited from my mother while painting, from my father.

Absolutely. As far as I can recall, I was already singing when I was eight for our First Lady then, Imelda Marcos, every time she visited our University. By the time I was in high school, I was a member of our university dance troupe, the university band majorettes, and the university Rondalla where we used native musical instruments to play folk songs during festivals and special occasions. I was playing an instrument called Bandurria. I was always in school operettas singing, dancing and having fun. By the time I was in college, I was running my own dance troupe funded by the cultural department of our university. I have always loved art since childhood. Always will.

My mother wasn’t really that perfect a mother… but she was definitely a stage mom! And I loved her for it!

Gosh! Since I was a child I was already exposed to the arts and knew that I love them all! But although deep inside I had the longing to become an artist, I had to consider the fact that my parents wanted a more stable future for me. And being an artist wasn’t one of them. After the arts, my next love is science, so I took a course in Biology for my parents’ sake. But ended up in the performing arts when I finished school anyway. As the saying goes… once an artist, always an artist.

Creativity for me, is the ability to make new of what already exists… to juxtapose visions, uniting them into one coherent thought through an image, a song or a poem. Creativity makes visible those unseen truths of nature. It is the ability to simplify a complex or make a whole of what others can only make in parts. I believe creativity exists in a non dual state of consciousness… in a liminal zone where the mind perceives things without bias. Only pure awe.

In my younger years, I was already making the most out of my creative juices in dance and music. I became a teacher only for a short while but shifted to performing arts. It never occurred to me though, that there was still a door left unopened leading me to mobile art. In my darkest moments, mobile art came to my life as a blessing in disguise.

Those moments come to me in the most unlikely situations…. in the middle of a street, when I’m watching a movie or listening to music… even when I’m taking my bath. It’s like a light switch that just turns on with no warning. And when it’s on, I dance with the flow before it turns off.

The desire to communicate an emotion… an idea. The urge to share those moments in life bright or dark in a language of colors and forms that speak to the mind like a poetry… a dance… a song.

So many! People who love art and dedicate their effort in holding artists together for the love of art. That is you, Joanne Carter and Giulia Baita. Those amazingly talented artists that i admire… Jane Schultz, Joyce Harkin, Catherine Caddigan, Eliza Tsitsimeaua, Juta Jazz, Peter Wilkin, Oola Cristina, Andrea Bigiarini, Diane Neubauer and so many more!

Social media has been most helpful in evaluating myself as an artist in a way through exposure of my works in different art communities. And it is in those communities that I started to grow by learning through works shared by other artists, publications of courses in art offered, applications updates, and those encouraging comments from fellow artists.

TheAppWhisperer has given me so much insight and inspiration I am so grateful I went into social media. So, yes, social media gives me a perspective on how to go about my art in the future.

I wake up early, prep for work, do the best I can with my job, go home and prep for bedtime. Sounds mundane, doesn’t it? In that little span of time I have left for the day before I feel sleepy, that’s where my excitement really starts as I open my iPad and work on my imagination until the time comes for me to close my eyes and be ready for the next day. Day offs are exceptional though. Twice a week, I get to spend the day the way I want it…. which means…. spending more time with my iPad and pencil.

There are moments when I feel that the message I want to convey needs viewers to question what they see. The thrill of discovery surely makes one dwell more into the image. But there are also times when clarity seem to weigh more in trying to convey the idea of my work.

Oh yes, there is. I find humor a great touch on subject matters that most likely are too sensitive to be put into an image. But with humor, I get the chance to express such an idea lightly without being offensive.  My work, ‘She Is Smoking Pot’, is one of those. It portrays how substance abuse can disfigure one’s personality. But my humorous approach made it look simply funny!

Failure is very important for me because it is through failure that I learn what i need to improve on. It is gauge of my progress in my work. And yes, it is always incorporated in my creative process.

Criticism is the knife that moulds me into a better version of an artist. I welcome it wholeheartedly and digest it fully to improve myself.

The toll that Covid-19 has brought into our lives has been so great it provoked emotions that most of us refuse to accept: the fear of dying. My works exuded that darkness when the covid numbers were rising.

If its not too much to ask, I want to have a party… a masquerade ball… not just dinner, so i can talk with the so many artists I admire both dead and alive! I love surrealism and Salvador Dali is one of my favorites. I would be so eager to talk with Leonardo da Vinci on his technological ingenuity and artistry. My curiosity would be greatly satisfied if I sat with you or Giulia Baita and ask you what drives you  into doing such wonderful things you do for the sake of art.

It is a simple advice all my mentors tell me… from math, to ballet, to music, to cooking, to driving, and even meditation. “Practice makes perfect.”

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