Hayat interviewed Azerbaijani artist Zohrab Salam-zadeh about his unique approach, style, and subject matter.
Interview with Zohrab Salam-zadeh:
F: First of all, I find your art amazing! Looking through your page on social media with all your works brought up so many positive emotions in me. Therefore, the first question that I’m thinking of is: where did it all start? What’s your first art memory that you can recall?
Z: Thank you very much for the positive feedback! I think hearing stuff like that is one of the best things that can happen to an artist.
Regarding the first memory–it actually started just like it does with quite many artists. I started drawing since I could hold a pencil in my hand and since then I can’t recall a day when I wouldn’t want to draw. It usually works like that: first you start drawing what you see, then you try to learn to draw it well, then you get influenced by the cartoons and films that you watch and try to reflect that in your drawings. However, I never wanted to copy anything–my wish was to draw something special and unique in style.
Thankfully, my parents always supported me. I never heard them saying “oh why don’t you do something else” or anything of that sort. Even when it came to going outside or playing with other kids, I remember that I would rather stay home and draw because it was way more entertaining for me, even though I was a restless kid. Art was teaching me a lot of things and shaping me as a person.
F: You have a really unique style!
Z: Thank you! This is due to years of experience and work on it.
F: As me and our team noticed, the ambience of your art is joyous despite the nature of illustrated objects (such as genies, etc.) So here is the question: does this type of art only come to life when the artist is in a good mood? What state of mind should one have to be able to create such an atmosphere in his/her art?
Z: No matter what, it’s the personality of an artist that is reflected in a work. Artists with more of a so-called “hard-bitten” personality and artists who are more soft-tempered will even draw lines differently: first ones will have rough corners and defined shapes whereas the latter will draw it all in a more subtle way. So the “guts” of an artist are always reflected on a piece of art they create. For sure the mood changes can add to the piece as well – it can be some chaos or, on a contrary, feeling of serenity. But generally, art pieces reflect the whole personality of an artist.
I actually never try hard to make my characters look positive, it’s maybe just that I can’t do it any other way (laughs). I sit down to draw and my mood suddenly improves and I just let that flow.
F: What could you tell us about the cultural influence on your art? Which elements of culture (religion or national heritage) inspire your work and why?
Z: Actually, I was told off quite a lot during my college years because of my drawing style. Since we had traditional classes in composition, drawing and painting, we had to keep it classical, but I used to overline the paintings, use black contour, etc. That used to irritate my teachers but I kept on using my provoking style (laughs).
Once I tried visualizing a folktale in picturesque style and, let’s say, even though at that time I thought it was a great piece…it actually wasn’t so good. So after that I stopped trying to fit my style into something traditional and started drawing just the way I felt.
Regarding the inspiration, I love history: history of Azerbaijan and the East. Since childhood I read books on history where I get inspiration from ancient architecture, clothing, characters, etc. However, when I decided to pick a theme for my illustrations my choice fell on Sufism. It is a mystical movement of Islam that references genies in almost every folktale. That caught my interest.
I also love talking to people from different generations, especially the older people.
When I was starting to search for a theme in my art I loved it when they’d tell me “oh, we have this good proverb…” or “did you know this legend…”. It was the first thing that motivated me to dig deeper into folklore and learn the origins of these things. When I started doing more research on that topic and creators who draw something similar, I realized that there are hardly any artists illustrating folktales with genies in such style. Of course, there are artists like Javad Mirjavadov and Rasim Mirbabayev (Azerbaijani artists) who draw something slightly related to that topic, but they do it in their own style and that’s very different.
So the chance to be one of the few who illustrates folktales in my own style motivated me to learn even more about history, religion and folklore. And the more I learnt, the more ideas for new paintings would appear in my mind. I even have several sketchbooks fully used for these ideas. There are plans for making bigger canvas paintings that will be even more detailed.
F: That’s so interesting how all these things inspired you to do the art you’re doing, and what is even more interesting – the way you interpret things that you learn in your illustrations.
Z: Yes, exactly. It’s the interpretation.
I’d like to say that our people used to be more religious back in the day. That used to make them closer to the culture and all these beliefs. However, the USSR kind of ruined that for us and that created many stereotypes. For example, now when people hear the word “genie” the first thing they think of is a folktale of Aladdin. Same goes to thinking that all genies are “bad spirits” when, in reality, if you learn a bit about religion you will find out that there are good genies too.
My art has a lot of references to Islam and many people treat it with caution, unfortunately. It’s interesting how many European artists reference religion as well and everyone takes it normally, meanwhile, when it comes to Eastern culture, gennies, Islamic references, many people get guarded (even negative) about that.
So that’s another reason I continue illustration in my own way. Of course, my art looks more folklore-ish, but in reality it has many references to religion and its beliefs. I want to keep on explaining it better for a wider public.
F: That leads me to our next question: what’s the goal of art? And how would you like your art to influence people?
Z: For sure I’d like my art to influence people in a solely positive way…and I also want them to just like it. Because, what is the most important thing for an artist? Being loved for his/her art. The ego actually plays quite a big role for the most creatives: artists, musicians, film directors, architects, etc. We all create things that people can see and love.
Now if I talk about my goal, specifically, then it would be showing the people that “this is our roots”. Things I illustrate–we have them in our religion, culture, folktales. That’s just part of us and that is absolutely normal–there is nothing to be scared of or feel cautious about.
Some of my works were made in a more comical style to let people look at this more easily. And I actually noticed a slight shift in perception of this topic. Before people were way more distant, and now there are more and more fans of my art theme.
When it comes to explaining the meaning of art in our lives generally, I’d say that it’s here to
1. Send us a message.
2. Make us feel good. Why do we listen to music or watch films? To make ourselves feel better, to inspire us, to give us aesthetic pleasure. If art doesn’t make anyone want to have more of it – why even create it? That applies to all forms of art.
F: Exactly, I completely agree on that. I know many artists in London who try to promote art and I just know how difficult it is. Especially, with the perceptions like “oh, art is not a real job” and all that.
Z: Yes, it is still quite difficult for artists to promote their art nowadays. You have to be able to push their art through, be communicable, out-going. That’s almost the only way one can be successful as an artist.
In our country (Azerbaijan) it is quite difficult to promote yourself. It’s been just 30 years of our independence, and people were going through some of the toughest times. Especially those who saw the 90s, they had to have their minds in all sorts of other things, definitely not art.
Thankfully, now it is changing for the better. Of course, you still can’t make a living solely from selling your art pieces. You have to do something on the side to be able to pay studio rent, buy canvases, oils, and other materials. But it is still an investment, though. You may create an art piece today and sell it in 10 years for a price better than the initial one.
There are still many opportunities to promote your art: taking some offers, going to all the artistic events, growing your network as often as possible, getting to symposiums, festivals, etc. So the belief that an artist can’t make a living from selling their art is not true – many things just depend on a person himself/herself. Those who want to find an opportunity will find it and won’t quit.
…Luck, of course, plays a role too (but rather a smaller one).
F: You’ve already given some tips for artists to promote their art, but if a young creative person approaches you now for a suggestion, is there anything else you would want to say to help them? Let’s say, three major tips for young artists to succeed in their field.
Z: This is actually a very tough question, even though I thought differently just a while ago. Recently, I took part at a symposium and met many successful creatives who shared lots of different obstacles on the way to success and now it is all actually mixed up in my head…
That’s why, first of all, I’d suggest that they NOT listen to what everybody has to say. Stay true to yourself and follow your dreams because at least 1 in 10 people will ask you why you even do art, “it is a path to nowhere”. Don’t let that demotivate you if that’s what you really want to do.
Second of all, keep on learning. Always. No matter how high on a ladder of success you get, you will still need to learn new things about your medium and you should do this for the sake of interest and doing what you do better, not for the money. Solely seeking money from your art won’t take you far because you won’t always be able to make great sales and that’s something that may demotivate you quite quickly if money is the only goal you have.
And last but not least, don’t be afraid of making a mistake. Experiment, try new things. Failure is a part of the process that will shape your style and even your personality. So toughen up, believe in yourself, and keep going no matter what.
Peruse the works of Zohrab Salam-zadeh here.
