Wednesday, October 20, 2010

SARAH PACKIAM


Feature Artist: Sarah Packiam
Singer/Songwriter
Miami, FL

Photography & Writing: Gwendolyn Rae
 






Please Make Sure to Follow Sarah's Work:

And definitely don't miss Sarah's free concert at
The Falls Shopping Center in Miami on Nov. 27th at 6pm.


(An excerpt from my personal photo journal entry about my photo shoot with Sarah Packiam)
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...“Let me get you a glass of wine,” she spontaneously declares as she makes her way to the kitchen.

Sarah dances as she walks- a quick little shuffle and flop of her feet mixed with random bounces and graceful hops here and there.  If you close your eyes while she is walking across the room you can’t help yourself but grin as you hear the rhythms of her feet against the floor. 

The concoction of enchanting musicality and charm with voluptuous curves and thick wavy hair reveal a unique combination of simultaneously identifiable forest nymph and rock star goddess. 

As we sat back with glasses of wine, over looking downtown Miami twenty some stories up – we started chatting.  Although I had met her a handful of times previously and had the honor of attending her wedding- I had not yet had a lengthy conversation with her.  It was always just very casual.

I was taken back immediately. She was sophisticated, experienced, and textured in a way, due to her innate sweetness, I hadn’t anticipated.  She was soulful….like a long deep exhale. Calm. Raw. Honest. Real.

I don’t know exactly what I had anticipated, but she was something far beyond that.
And it wasn’t that I had underestimated her per say, it was more that in a world where we get so used to placing things and people in categories or boxes….she didn’t begin to fit in any category or any box that I could come up with.

 She spoke in a sexy almost whisper and her choice of words seemingly sensual, yet spoken with the utmost confidence and directness.  She was revealing and honest about herself as she spoke to me, discussing how she felt about being a woman of both Irish and Indian decent living in America and she reflectively mentioned the similarities in the colors of the flags of both Ireland and India- not to mention the flag of Miami- her current home. She admitted her frustration as a question of disbelief often arose in many Americans she encountered: how could she be either?  Where are her obvious stereotypical physical indications of either culture? Where are the red hair and freckles? Where is the sari? And just to keep things interesting, she speaks fluent Spanish and writes & sings all of her songs in English.

Despite the lack of red hair and freckles; both her passion and pride, I would instinctively say is the Irish in her.  Although, it may only be my own Irish blood that makes me say that. And, her sweet whispers of melody; even in her speaking voice, are punctuated with a revealing and whimsical Irish accent. Every sentence somehow seems flawless and fluid and I find myself hanging on her every last word so as not to miss the obvious song. 

Her physicality and peaceful nature seems more Indian with Spanish cultural influences here and there, but then upon a more discriminatory glance- I believe there is no doubt she still exhibits the ability to hold her own in a rough Dublin pub.  Her beautiful concoction of contradictions was starting to become more and more apparent to me with the passing of each moment.

As we spoke, I heard stories about world travel, her family, about the people she knows, her music, the locations around the world she has played and the experiences she has had. All far surpass what would even seem possible by her years. 

With Sarah, it is clearly the contradiction of her qualities all woven flawlessly together and the wholeness of all that they represent that make her a powerful Irish, Indian, Spanish and American woman- far more expansive than the offerings of one solitary flag.  It is her playful innocence, honest emotions and whimsical fairy like nature pierced by the raw self assured textures of world travel, talent, well-lived experience, and voluptuous sensuality that make her – well, …simply…like no one else.

She left me with a sunflower and one of my first photo shoot experiences where I left feeling that I knew much more than I did when I arrived. And, all the way home my mind was full of yet another enchanting concoction- this one of sweet voice and mandolin. And while I hummed along to the melody, like I would with the latest radio pop song, I found myself hoping that a bit of that soulful tapestry of world experience and beauty wore off on me- connecting me to a wholeness and understanding much more profound and meaningful than one solitary flag could ever arrive at alone. Goodbye lonely me. 

(LISTEN TO SARAH'S SONG 'GOODBYE LONELY ME' ON HER WEBSITE.)

2 comments:

  1. A good article.. Have listened to her songs Good bye lonely me, Every body needs some body, You & I...All are good songs. But the one I really felt diff was "Take It or Leave it" which i heard from youtube...
    . waiting for the release of those songs...
    Bets wishes...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looking wonderful, sounding wonderful, miss you Sarah

    ReplyDelete