Rajul Shah, Wellness Advocate & Supporter
Prior to becoming an artist, I worked in Pharmaceutical/healthcare marketing for 20 years. Upon moving to Japan in 2012, I explored my hobby in Art. I took classes, workshops, read books, watched videos across all 2D media, including photography. In the end, I fell in love with painting; and thus, I am an artist. My artwork is heavily influenced by the Japanese Art of Kintsugi. The art of kintsugi is based on a philosophy of resilience, embracing imperfections and evolving into a stronger form of oneself. In Japan, when a piece of pottery breaks it is not thrown away; instead, it is glued back together with gold splicing and tree sap. The result is the piece of pottery reborn into a beautiful piece of art to be cherished.
I worked across many disease areas when I was in pharma, including breast, lung, prostate, colorectal and blood cancers; as well as Epilepsy, short- and long-term pain, incontinence and sexual dysfunction. I was responsible for translating physician, medical professional, patient and caregiver feedback into actionable results for the marketing teams. I loved this job as I was working to obtain a deeper understanding around the diseases. Purple Octopus Art allows me to combine the knowledge of healthcare from my first career in healthcare and my second career as an artist.
I think Art offers a great way to “take a break” or ease pressures from the pressures of daily life. Art covers more than just paintings… Art is photography, music, literature, poetry, sculptors…. Even food preparation and decoration are elevated to artistic interpretations. It’s wonderful to get lost in a painting, sing along with your favorite song or relax and get “lost” in a photo of nature. Any time one takes a break to allow for the absorption of something that activates the right brain give the left brain a much-needed break. It’s almost a form of meditation; after which you can gently ease yourself back into life.
If you are an artist, musician, author, photographer, film maker, etc. Art is an expressive outlet for emotions. As an artist who has suffered from depression for 25 years, art has been my escape into a world that helps me heal. Producing work that promotes concepts of healing and resilience give me a lot of internal peace.