Aranie Rasalingam | Artist & Founder, Paduka Arts
Born in Kiel, Germany, and raised in Canada, I am a Tamil-Canadian artist deeply inspired by the interconnectedness of life—its stories, movements, and the quiet poetry of the everyday. My work explores the fluidity between past, present, and future, blurring the lines between imagination and reality, memory and abstraction. Through art, I seek to provoke thought and evoke a sense of unraveling—a journey toward self-discovery and an exploration beyond societal compartmentalization.
Growing up , I learned the art of making the most of what was available. “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” evolved into “Repurpose and Reimagine” when it came to storytelling for my school projects. Whether it was beautifying a space with limited resources, crafting a different world for a school project, or finding new meaning in discarded materials, reinvention became second nature. This practice, born out of necessity, grew into an artistic philosophy—becoming limitless from limited materials, one that celebrates transformation, sustainability, and the unseen beauty within the overlooked. Always looking into how to transform by introducing new elements or reposition the existing in a new light with renewed perspective.
My art is a dialogue between the ethereal and the tangible, the intimate and the universal. Drawing from music, dance, cultural narratives, and the divine feminine, I weave elements of surrealism into my work—where light and shadow mirror the spectrum of human experience. Just as nature reveals the extraordinary within the mundane—a bud blooming, water rippling, the steam curling from a cup of tea—my art invites viewers into a world where escapism and introspection intertwine.
Through Paduka Arts, I embrace upcycling as an artistic process, be it using unused materials from existing stock or sourcing mass-produced and discarded items to transform them into meaningful, thought-provoking pieces. Each artwork is a meditation on history, personal narrative, and the collective search for belonging. Whether reflecting on diasporic identity, the sacred connections passed through generations, or the delicate balance of nature, my work serves as a bridge—connecting past to future, self to universe, and guiding turbulent mind storms toward the stillness of the eye, where clarity and inner peace emerge amid the surrounding chaos.
The Renaissance is always upon us—we just have to choose it. And in every brushstroke, I choose to illuminate the unseen, celebrate the discarded, and inspire a new way of seeing the world around us.