INTERVIEWED BY Lena Sulik IMAGES courtesy of 99 Loop Gallery
Zarah Cassim is a talented young artist living and working in Cape Town. Her current exhibition – These Spaces/These Places – is a moody, contemplative series of landscape paintings and her first solo show at 99 Loop Gallery.
Gallery manager, Lena Sulik caught up with Zarah to find out more about her journey as an artist.
How is art a part of your everyday life?
Art is part of my everyday life in the way that I experience the world around me – always viewing things through a creative filter. I have a fascination with the idea that the reality we perceive exists in multiple layers, where my personal reality is constantly changing and growing through discovery and exploration of myself within a contemporary urban context. My everyday experiences and interaction with the world stems into and drives my creative practice.
What lesson stuck with you the most from your days at Michaelis?
What stuck with me most from my days at Michaelis is to always remain true to your creative passion and to value it… and to appreciate the time you have to practice art.
Since Michaelis, my practice has developed rather than changed. I am still interested in similar notions and have just had the opportunity to explore these ideas further – which resulted in a shift in my practice (from photography to painting).
Where do you find your inspiration?
I enjoy observing people, places and situations in the world around me. I am always jotting down notes, collecting images, ideas, words, memories and moments, all of which move me in some way or another. So, I would say that I am inspired by the everyday situations in my contemporary reality. At the moment, I am highly inspired by the natural landscape – finding comfort in the vast, expansive spaces within nature and viewing myself in relation to these spaces.
How did you go about creating the works for your current exhibition?
I work both en plein air for inspiration, as well as from images and memory for painting.
I usually work in layers of paint, often removing large areas with thinners, and working over faded shadows of previous painted images. I mix my own colours and create a colour palette according to my mood. My favourite colours are dark inky blues, greens and blacks with a touch of burnt sienna. I enjoy the mysteriousness and depth found within these darker colours, as well as its resonance with the thought provoking quiet time in the winter seasons.
Each of my works mean something different to me. These works are reflective of a very specific time in my life: very sensitive, romantic and a pleasure to remember. Because I start off with a memory or an impression that has had a lasting effect on me, and because it is usually something quite personal, I try to remain very true to the memory and link the title directly to the event. Because my work deals with notions of perception, I am very interested in the way my work will be perceived to different people. Ultimately, I hope for my work to evoke a moment of sensitivity and calm in my audience, and to create a space of reflection.
For more information, visit 99loop.co.za or contact the gallery via gallery@99loop.co.za or 072 296 7627.