Beckoning for Change - Artists With a Cause

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Vishavjit Singh found his love for arts at a very young age. He started doodling Sikh characters in his free time. But thanks to his South Asian heritage was encouraged to leave arts for the sciences in teenage years.

He studied Biological Sciences at University of California, Santa Barbara and Biostatistics/Epidemiology in Graduate School at University of California, Berkeley. The 9/11 attacks in United States and the subsequent hate crime wave adversely affecting many Sikhs created the ripe conditions for an artistic spark. Inspired by the creative response of American editorial cartoonists to the tragic events, Vishavjit started creating cartoons focusing on Sikh news/events.

As a survivor of 1984 genocidal killings of Sikhs in India his cartoons focus on the fine line that separates contradictions from righteousness, lies from truth, inspiration from vanity, figment of imagination from reality all within the context of Sikh community around the world. He creates cartoons on a weekly basis that appear on his website, www.Sikhtoons.com. His work has been featured in museum and gallery exhibits, film festivals, youth retreats/camps and conferences. Many Sikh news and portal websites/magazines publish his work on a regular basis. He currently resides in New York State with his wife.

CONCERNING CHANGE

Sikhtoons_Eyechart One salient lesson life has taught me, Change is the only constant in life. Born into a Sikh family in the US I had an instant proclivity to the arts. I was doodling, sketching, panting in my free time. My first teenage year it was reasoned upon me to choose sciences, practicality, professional career and money over the passion for arts. In 1984 I survived a genocidal wave of killings in India that consumed thousands of innocent Sikh lives. Life went on and I moved back to the land of my birth to be an engineer then a doctor. Neither manifested into reality. Lost in a sea of humanity in college that looked so different from my turbaned and barely bearded looks, I took off my turban and chopped my unshorn hair to get lost in the crowd. Then I eased into atheism. Discovered Buddhism on the shelves of bookstores in Santa Barbara. Delved into Taoist meditations in Berkeley. Finally for the first time befriended the faith I was born into, Sikhism. A month before 9/11 with my hair long enough donned the Sikh turban. After 9/11 I was the target of ignorance and ensuing hate from fellow Americans who only saw my turban and beard.

The response of some American editorial cartoonists to 9/11 and subsequent events created the spark to embrace my long lost passion. I started cartooning about Sikhs armed with my laptop and right index finger. My evenings and weekends have since been consumed by capturing Sikh frustrations and aspirations around the globe. The inevitability of Change is my constant guide.