Zahra A lives in Sweden. She is not Swedish, she is from Azerbaijan, but she is following the inspiration of the planet and trying to find her way as an artist. She discovered an interesting trait among the Swedish people that is very different from her home. It seems that the Scandinavian people are fans of abstract art.
The galleries and museums, and the personal taste of the typical customer in Sweden is for abstract pieces. In Azerbaijan, and in fact most countries of the former USSR, people prefer realism. Could it be that years of oppression in the Soviet state have made people long for paintings of something real? Paintings of vivid colors that do not require pondering and deep thought. Perhaps after years of cold war hostility, and new-found independence the people in Azerbaijan want to see paintings of real people, drawings of flowers, watercolors of summer skies and beach scenes. Who could blame them?
Zahra prefers this type of art as well, her realism is on full display in her Instagram account zahra.azimzade
We had a chance to meet Zahra and talk about her aspirations. How did she get started painting, and what is her life like now?
She paints every day. That’s what we learned right away. Zahra is a real artist, she is not simply enjoying her hobby. Zahra paints from deep within herself and is focused on the human condition. Faces, bodies, a few animals here and there. She discovered at a young age that she enjoyed art and wanted to do it every day. She paints her friends, she goes to the park and sketches a stranger so she can paint them later when she is at home. How long does it take to complete a painting? Zahra informs us that she doesn’t care, in fact she has no answer for this question because many of her works are unfinished (and she likes them like this). She shows us a painting of her nephew and it is unfinished. It will stay that way; she likes the look of the painting, it has captured her nephew’s spirit and that is what any good artist really wants. On a side note, she misses her nephew so much that painting him has been an emotional trial for her.
But we already know our brushes are great, we want to know more about the people who are holding them. What is Zahra’s goal, where does she want her art to take her? She does not hesitate for even a second, “I want to be a famous painter”. Sounds so simple when expressed this way. Her favorite artist? Again, not a moment of hesitation, “Vincent Van Gogh for sure. I really like Anders Zorn also.” This makes sense on two fronts; he is Swedish and he did portraits. Zahra has dabbled in abstract art, but her real love is portraits. As we reflect for a moment, I try to imagine a goal as lofty as hers – to become a famous artist. She has the drive to achieve this goal, her only focus in life is her painting and she practices constantly with that goal in her mind.
In her Fine Arts classes in university, she informs us that they had anatomy classes. An artist of the human form must understand the human body. Zahra finds her inspiration everywhere she goes. Finding willing subjects and unwitting ones as well. If you have been in Stockholm in the past year you may have even been one of her models without knowing it. The human race is full of differences; shape, size, color. The differences are what give artists like Zahra something to hone their skills. Zahra tries different styles, different methods, different materials. Her inspiration comes from other painters, from nature, and from people.
We are so happy to have met her and heard what she has to say. Another artist on a journey of discovery. Is it self-discovery? Possibly. Zahra hopes to move to the United States and find like-minded people who are fans of realism. A physical journey for this experienced traveler. What we know for sure, she has friends here are Artify. And fans as well. We wish her the best!
All of the paintings come from Zahra, An Real Art Dreamcatcher !
