Strokes of genius

Words: Elspeth Rae
It’s a very disconcerting feeling talking to a thirteen-year-old girl who probably understands the world and her place in it better than you do. In fact when I first heard I was to interview a child prodigy, Akiane Kramarik, I was a bit dubious. Surely such a young girl would never really be able to produce the work she does on her own - it seems inconceivable that she could do so without any help?        She admits she does get help though, from God. “A guy I never really knew anything about until I was around four and had a vision from Him when asleep. He showed me all these beautiful galaxies and other places. I asked Him who He was and He said I already knew, but told me not to tell anyone. And I didn’t for about a week, but then I just had to tell my mum!”          

Akiane’s mum didn’t really understand what her daughter was saying, after all how could Akiane be so certain she had met with God, when she herself was an atheist? But the more Akiane spoke about “this warm, beautiful strength….this incredible being” that she had seen, the more her mum began to take her seriously.  Indeed, after a while, her mum became a Christian along with the rest of her family. That seems to be the sort of power Akiane can portray - through her art and poetry - she can show God in her pictures and writings to such an extent that people will start to see Him there too. 

{mosgoogle right}Akiane has the sort of talent most fully-grown, trained artists can only dream of and yet she has never studied art or how to paint. Her day-to-day schedule seems very hard and gruelling, “I get up at four or five as that’s when I have all my best ideas and best inspirations. Sure it’s not easy all the time, but I want to do it, I want other people to feel the things I do.” For a 13-year-old girl, Akiane is surprisingly confident and personable and completely succinct when portraying what she feels through conversation. Perhaps this is why she is also a successful poet. Although Akiane insists her poems accompany her artwork, when read on their own, the poems are of equal intensity, particularly when you consider the age of the poet:       

“I teach and they run away.         
I listen and they come.         
My strength is my silence”       

The messages found in Akiane’s work are of great importance for they are involved entirely with an omni-benevolent God. Akiane could not imagine anything other than this. “That’s what I love about writing and the art. I know God is there with me, helping me. If I get stuck, which I do, I just stop for a moment and think about what’s happening or go and play with my brothers and suddenly I find myself full of energy. I love that feeling of not knowing what will happen when you begin, where something will go - it’s a mystery”.       

Akiane admits her talent for drawing never really materialised until she was a bit older, although her ‘art’ differs greatly in sheer volume from any other child I’ve come across, “When I drew when I was really young and had first seen God, I used to use anything I could get hold of - food, walls, fingers! We have literally thousands of bits of paper covered in faces.” 

Akiane is immensely talented at depicting this part of the anatomy, as you can see when looking at any number of her huge canvases.  Akiane is immensely talented at depicting this part of the anatomy, as you can see when looking at any number of her huge canvases.  Particularly, in my opinion ‘Father Forgive Them’, a beautiful, calm and most poignant piece showing Jesus speaking with his Father. She works in acrylics, interesting due to the sheer size of the canvasses she uses as many artists would feel more at home in oils.  But she says “I love acrylics the most, I get such enjoyment from them.”  And this seems to be the very essence of all Akiane’s work, whether it be words or art. Her supreme talent can obviously be seen, but the viewer is very aware that a happy, inspirational person has made the piece, for her own and everyone else’s pleasure - as a means of recording her own conversations with God.

You can see the article in the new issue of STREETBRAND magazine. Follow this link to download the new issue of STREETBRAND magazine.

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written by Jordan, December 06, 2007

Wow, wow, wow - and she's only 13!

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