We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Alinia Ziazi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.

Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I’ve completed a 3 part illustration series called The Flora Compositions which is inspired by the juxtaposition between the beauty of the feminine energy and the adjacent beauty of floral imagery. These illustrations are meant to evoke a divine transcendence brought together in simple and balanced compositions. They’re meant to be pleasing to the eye in the sense that repetition and symmetry go hand in hand. I like simplifying the shapes in my work. For example, if I illustrate a flower, it’s going to have a simple stem, maybe two to three colours within the anatomy of the structure and a few leaves to go along with it. I was also enamoured by old botanical floral illustrations from centuries ago. The way all that organic detail stood out from the plain background always made me happy. In the past, I’ve always felt like I needed to make deep sophisticated meaningful work to be taken seriously as an artist, but the Flora series has simply allowed me to not overthink the process and be experimental. Eventually, it became meditative and very natural to make, and I’ve taken it for what it is – pretty illustrations of flowers. I guess it’s meaningful to me because it’s a visual representation of how far I’ve come – from drawing in my schoolgirl days and graduating from University to sustaining my art career. It has become a full bloom cycle.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a first-generation Toronto Illustrator & Muralist of Indian and Iranian heritage. My practice initiates a dialogue between personal experiences within Eastern and Western discourses. Often grounded in nostalgic subjectivity, family history and the cultural significance of storytelling, my work holds agency with each other through factual and fictional spaces. A static composition is seen within my aesthetics through the use of digital and traditional mediums.

Upon receiving a BDs in Illustration from OCAD University in 2017, I have exhibited artworks in several Canadian galleries, and have showcased my work in published forums and magazines. With less than five years of progressive illustration experience, I have worked for reputable clientele like The Drake Hotel, Globe & Mail and StreetARToronto, amongst other respected institutions. My work has also been acknowledged by American Illustration and Society of Illustrators.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I like saying that Art is my love language because it really brings out the best and the worst in me. The nature of my artworks is to show the good and the bad of people’s intentions. I think it’s a good balance to take information from both sides and create an imaginative world. I find it very rewarding being an artist because I’m able to look back on the work I’ve created and see how far I’ve come. Sometimes I’ll pull out my old illustrations and I’ll analyze what works and what doesn’t work, just to train my eye. Sometimes I’ll recreate old paintings to challenge myself and I’ll actively look forward to how my style would evolve into new projects. This used to scare me a little but as I’ve gotten older, I’m ok with the unexpected changes with my style.

I’m often influenced by the nuances of everyday life. My approach to art-making goes along the lines of turning dull mundane moments into something playful. Like, if there are two people having a conversation, why not turn it into an abstract interaction and put a mid-century modern vase with impossibly massive flowers blooming in-between them? It’s a funny way to process an idea into a sketch until it becomes the final artwork.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I probably had to unlearn is not to take myself too seriously. I’ve struggled a lot with being a perfectionist in the sense of colour misplacement or a particular shape not turning out the way I wanted. After looking back on a completed project, I would often say to myself, “why did I put that line there?” or “why didn’t I use that texture in a better way?”

I’ve noticed as I’m getting older, my natural instincts are allowing me to not take myself too seriously when it comes to subject matter. I see that’s the way things are currently going and it feels like weights are being slowly lifted off me each project. I’m welcoming an airer lighter way of looking at things, especially when it comes to my art. That probably makes no sense saying it out loud but hopefully viewers get the idea.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sarahaz.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.sarah.az
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahaz/
• Other: Tik Tok: https://tiktok.com/the.sarah.az

Image Credits

I’ve taken/ created all the images.