By Brinju Laxmi Thapa
Sometimes, finding out what you don’t want to do also takes you a step closer to what you actually want to do. After following her many curiosities, Kajina finally realized her passion for art and creativity – she decided to turn it into a career. Kajina tried her hands at Do It Yourself (DIY) related crafts as a kid and realized that creating gave her that ‘butterflies in the stomach’ experience that your first crush gives you. Like your first crush, that first foray into DIY has evolved with time. So, with a handful of trial and errors, ups and downs, good and bad, here she is today – a DIY kid turned Creative Head and Craft Product Designer at Pinches Artcore. If you ever get a chance to look at her phone, expect 2-3000 DIY, craft, decor, painting and aesthetics photographs that she keeps around for inspiration. If she suddenly disappears one day, rest assured, you’ll find her on Pinterest.
Despite her young age, while talking with Kajina, I felt her surrounded by a sense of nostalgia as we revisited her childhood. She said that she was very calm and shy as a kid and was unsure about her future. But today, we see her embracing her confident creative self and becoming an enthusiast who is interested in aesthetics, digital arts, photography, female illustration and has an eye for beautiful things. As soon as she stepped into the art class in grade four, she started getting recognized for what she could bring into the table as a kid. Long story short, she then started pursuing a career as a creative.
Kajina says that the people that she meets everyday or will never meet again and places she has left her footprint at or the places she is yet to tick mark on her bucket list is what pushes the artist in her. “The world is so big and so small at the same time that anything can be an art and everything can inspire the artist in you,” said Kajina.
So, with a little selfish motive of bringing out the tiny artist left in me, I tried to dig deeper and asked her:
B: Just a conversation starter – what is your definition of art?
K: Art is a very personal experience to each individual and it has always been a task when it comes to defining it but if I have to, then I would say it is the best medium of expressing and escaping in equal parts.
B: So, which is the most interesting art work that you’ve landed your eye on so far?
K: There have been many such artworks that have blown my mind but if I have to name one, then it would be the Starry Night by Van Gogh. I was mesmerized. Literally!
B: Has there been any kind of art related experience that managed to sweep you off your feet?
K: Oh Jeez, I think it is going to take me a while to answer this because I have been swept off by art countless times, you know.
Oh yes, for this I would like to go down the memory lane of my A-levels days. So, art had gotten boring and monotonous and I was second guessing if I wanted to continue with it. And one day, our art teacher took us to the college café for self-study where he talked about the Monalisa and the whole story behind it. Learning about the story behind the paining and the artist’s journey in creating it left me mesmerized. I understood at this point that art is beyond just a pretty painting. I fell in love with painting and creating once more after that. So yeah, that is something very close to my heart.
B: Art is often a form of escapism. So, what is a perfect escape for you?
K: Depends on what I need an escape from (if that makes sense). For instance, my entire family was Covid infected last month and there were both personal and professional responsibilities I was tied to and I was not in a position to compromise on any of them. So, after a month of continuous void and frustration, I went out on a drive to an unknown place and shouted my heart out on the empty roads as we were returning back home and trust me, that was the best feeling”. Sometimes crazy travel ideas help me find my calm and sometimes, it is eating alone in cafes, gallery visits and so on that make my day.
B: That must have been difficult, did art in any way help you in that Covid battle?
In the initial few weeks, I didn’t feel like doing anything. Later on, I wanted to do art work so badly but couldn’t, which made me even more frustrated. Yes, if I had done something related to art on those days, that would have made me feel better but the absence made me feel worse. And that is when I realized that I would get lost without art in my life.
B: A slightly different topic now, has there been any relation between your journey as a student and as a creative?
K: My teachers were the ones who saw my potential in a creative career, so, yes. My school teachers always encouraged me to participate in art and craft competitions.
After joining King’s as well, teachers were always encouraging and appreciating my creative efforts. I also got to experiment further through King’s Club and Fablab. King’s has helped me take my creative side and mix it with value creation so that I can make a career out of it. So yes, my journey as a student and a creative has gone hand in hand.
B: So, do you believe that your feet have taken you to where your heart actually wanted to?
K: I am a firm believer of the notion ‘God helps those who help themselves’ and another thing that I believe in equally is the law of attraction. I have a clear head on what I want to do and where I want to belong and as long as I keep on putting a conscious and continuous effort, I will keep on manifesting everything I want. Also, there isn’t always just a single destination. The only thing constant in life is change. But I would like to happily believe that, right now, I am where I wanted to be in life.
B: Finally, do you want to keep doing what you do as just a hobby or have given a thought to make it a profession?
K: Well, I am a creative business employee by profession. So, I think I could not keep my interest as just a hobby but having said that, I do have a love affair with paintings and photography that I would not want to turn into a profession of any kind firmly believing that there are things when turned into a 9-5 or when gets entangled to money, we start being more lenient towards time and money rather than doing it for the sake of our love for what we do.
B: Is that where your Instagram page – KN DIY and your collaboration with Bhav Shop come in?
K: KN DIY – where K stands for Kajina and N for Nerick, is an instagram page me and my brother created to post our artwork and DIY stuff. We wanted to create a brand out of it one day. So, ya, KN DIY was born out of turning a hobby into a profession.
And Bhav – which is a Nepali stationery brand – I am a big fan and I support them. I have a thing for entrepreneurship as well and my dad – a business man – wanted me to do what I love but also not at the expense of sacrificing business for it. So, I was always drawn towards stationary entrepreneurship. Hence, Bhav is a huge inspiration for me. Thankfully, they love and support my creative efforts so I had an opportunity to collaborate with them for a giveaway I did in my page.
See some of Kajina’s work here: KN DIY
Kajina is a BBA student at King’s College. Learn more about our BBA programs here.
