Interview with Artist Akiane Kramarik
Photos have been published with permission from Akiane.
I have been a fan of Akiane Kramarik for years after searching for some peace to help me with the grief of losing my brother. My brother's suicide was a devastating experience resulting in a deep spiritual awakening for me; I was searching for meaning of life and proof that there could possibly be another world after we leave this one. When I discovered Akiane's paintings I would spend hours just looking at them and the depth of beauty each painting has.
So intrigued was I with this young woman's artwork I picked up the courage to see if she would interview with me, and to be honest I wasn't hopeful. To my delight, I received a reply back from Akiane's dad, Mark, who agreed to make this happen.
Well after many emails and arranging a suitable time in our different timezones we finally settled on a date, and today I had the honour of speaking with this amazing young lady.
Here's the interview (recorded on Skype so forgive some of the quality).
BACKGROUND
Akiane was born underwater home birth in 1994 in a shack on the edge of a cornfield. Her mother is a teacher and father a chef. The family lived a poor existence with no friends, no relatives, no television or radio, and their life was quite simple: long walks in nature, open conversations, and hands on explorations of knowledge.
When Akiane was four years old, even though the family was indifferent to spirituality or religion, she started experiencing vivid impressions about invisible realms and a need to express them on canvas, so she would draw with whatever she could find; candles, lipstick, fruits, vegetables, charcoal or pencils. What Akiane saw in her visions, she kept to herself until she knew it was the right time to explain to her parents. Remember she was a very young child.
Soon afterwards, Akiane plunged into the world of colours, and a few more years later into the world of poetry leaving her family puzzled.
By eight this self-taught child prodigy completed her first five-foot long oil painting mastering realism equal to that of a seasoned artist. That's the media took notice and she was invited on to the Oprah Winfrey show at just nine years old.
Since then, she has been called a genius, a prodigy, a crystal child, an indigo, a messenger, a visionary, an ambassador, and the first true master of the 21st century.
Both the paintings and the poetry that accompany her images often are filled with riddles, symbols and codes. Her style appears to be unusually versatile and profoundly complex as if she is trying to reveal the deepest workings of the unknown. Her works are collected by world leaders, CEO's, entrepreneurs and celebrities. She has held exhibitions in museums, galleries, embassies, private mansions, universities, institutes, monasteries, churches, hotels and corporations across the world.
To see Akiane's originals is such a rare and life changing experience that hundreds of art collectors and enthusiasts are flowing into her studio gallery inspired by her genius. Usual solo art exhibitions and book signings attract thousands waiting in line for hours to meet her.
Her originals are sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, many are valued at millions, making Akiane the most successful living visual art child prodigy in the world. Tens of thousands of dollars have been raised through auctions and art exhibits and donated to needy people throughout the globe. The interest in Akiane has reached unprecedented proportions, with over 200 published art works, 800 literary creations, two published best selling books, regular appearances on prime-time TV and radio, such as Oprah Winfrey Show, World News Tonight, Good Morning America, Glen Beck Show/CNN, The View, Fox News, Montel Williams Show, Late Late Show, Lou Dobbs Show/CNN, Hour of Power, and numerous others, top media coverage in Brazil, Japan, Korea, Norway, Lithuania, Ireland, England, Canada, Middle East, and China, with an induction into the Kids Hall Of Fame, and World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, almost 300 million hits a year on www.akiane.com, the main website for Akiane gallery and over 100,000 daily hits on internet searches of the world wide web.