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Born to Pakistani parents, Sadia Salam is a Canadian artist with several juried and solo art exhibitions under her belt. She has created many remarkable pieces in oil, ink, pastels, and watercolors. Her exhibitions have been highly successful and critically acclaimed.
Sadia is somewhat unique in the series of artists we have met in that her education was in a hard science (Biology), but she has taken up art as a career in the "real world." To us, she represents that amazing segment of society, whose members take on a true passion and make it a part of their every day lives instead of keeping it as "something they would like to do one day"!
Let us introduce you in more detail to this talented woman. To see more of Sadia's work, please visit Sadia's online gallery |
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1. Let’s start with getting to know you. Tell us about where you grew up, went to school, your family, and anything else that describes you as a person…
My background is actually pretty simple. My parents are from Karachi, Pakistan; they migrated to Canada where I was born and raised and where I still reside today. I grew up in small town Ontario and am now based in Calgary, Alberta. |
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2. As an individual with a flair for the arts, but minimal formal training, what do you think were the driving factors that helped you develop your talent and take it to the level where it’s at today?
As a student, I felt as though I kept running away from professionally pursuing art, thinking it was the impractical choice. I graduated with a degree in biology from the University of Guelph, though I continued working on my art as well. I’ve always had this intrinsic attachment to art. After graduating my study of art was mostly of an independent nature but I also found opportunities to study formally at institutions like the Art League of Houston. Back in Canada, my motivation to pursue art resulted in juried and solo exhibitions first in Sarnia, Ontario and more recently in Calgary, Alberta. I'm currently enrolled at the University of Calgary to further my studies in fine arts, and with much anticipation and serious contemplation, I feel that I am taking my work to the next level |
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3. Tell us about the different styles and themes of your paintings, specifically the intuitive colors and who is Pakistan...
“Intuitive color” is about recognizing the world around me and translating it into a visual medium for expression. To me, art is a form of communication. Taking something that is unseen, processing it from heart and mind to hand, and expressing it to an audience. Artistically communicating is much different than straightforward language. It allows for contemplation and reflection of life. I think there is a type of truth in art which cannot be otherwise described.
The “Who is Pakistan?” series I think is different in style and concept. It probes into my feelings about Pakistan and how the country’s culture affects me. It’s a theme I am continuing with at the moment with new pieces in the works as well as a restructuring of others. I feel this series is evolving and becoming more layered.
A major influence on my painting recently was some research I did on Islamic art and spirituality which gave me a renewed sense of where art stands in Islam.
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4. In your works, we’ve seen oil, ink, pastels, watercolors - what medium do you use most or what is your favorite medium and why?
I would have to go with oil. There’s something luminous about the medium, the shades and depth and ability to blend make it really rewarding to work with. |
"GOSSIP", oil on canvas, 2004 |
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5. You seem to draw your inspiration from every day objects and scenes. How would you describe the creative process that takes place in your mind when you see something interesting?
The ‘Intuitive Color’ series is just what the name implies. It’s focused on concentrating on my intuition for concepts of art and color. I didn’t try to rationalize while working on the paintings until after they were completed and then reflected on what I thought I might have brought out of that every day object or event; or what that object’s relationship is to me, or why I even chose the object that was represented in the first place.
I still find color an interesting phenomenon and incorporated it into the “who is Pakistan?” series. The inspirations were taken from photographs my husband took on a recent trip. I think he also has an artistic eye and some of his snapshots of common everyday people living in Pakistan were really interesting. They were not of the elite or of the extremely impoverished, but scenes that were very commonplace just walking around town. However, I did stylize the image in my paintings with an infusion of vibrant color. I am at work finishing more pieces for this series. |
"WAKE STATE", color pen and ink, 2000 |
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6. Which of your creations is/are your favorite and why?
It’s tough to judge your own work. There’s something about the “who is Pakistan” series, however, that feels more authentic. I feel they are more layered in meaning and workmanship. |
"TREE AT JINNAH'S TOMB", oil on canvas, 2004 |
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7. In one of your previous interviews, you made an interesting comment about Pakistan: “…it’s an in-between place which holds part of my ancestry” – so how does Pakistan figure in or influence your work?
Pakistan is a distant place for me but I still get this feeling of déjà vu. Although I only remember visiting twice, the last time being back in 1991, it is a place where my parents grew up and they have imparted these views on me. Canada is where I was born, nurtured and educated and it therefore holds a significant attachment for me. Sometimes I would like to consider myself from neither place, a wayfarer; to me, that is an Islamic concept, where nationalism is not advocated. Reflecting on these influences inevitably leads to artistic expression. My paintings sometimes remind me of a visual diary. They help sort out and organize thoughts of who I am, where I’ve come from and what direction I’m heading towards. |
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8. How do you perceive Pakistan as a country to live and work in, based on whatever observations you’ve made on your trips there, or things you hear from your friends and relatives? Do you feel they are in sync with how a majority of the international media portrays Pakistan?
To really understand Pakistan I think you have to stay longer than a visit. I think you can’t really understand it through the opinions of others either, but you have to actually experience life there for yourself. I think it’s the same for any country. There is a complex, rich history and social structure out there. There are sets and subsets of sub-cultures, socio-economic classes, urban-rural dynamics, and government politics that have to be lived through. The media most often seems to be one-dimensional with a catchy headline that generalizes a whole race of human beings and so is not the best way of understanding a nation. |
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9. As an artist, what role do you think you can play in bridging the widening gap between cultures and ethnicities in today’s geo-political climate?
An artist portrays his/her specific perception of the world. In my view the gap that is widening is the one between reality and the apparent. So, for me, sincerity is key, as well as reflection and contemplation to come to truths in my own life which can be declared through art. |
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10. What is your advice to people with creative talent in terms of making something out of it? Do you feel, in hindsight, that formal training is necessary, or do you believe practice and application are bigger success factors?
I think if there is something that is your ‘calling’, its going to come out and get you. Part of destiny is your own motivation and driving force, whether conscious or subconscious, towards whatever is present in your heart.
Individual practice and laboring in the arts is a must but there is also so much to be learned through others, especially those who have intensively studied the discipline and have gone through the artistic learning process. Art is not just about making marks on paper or throwing paint on a canvas and seeing what looks pretty, its about the idea behind it and can envelop so many other disciplines such as history, humanities, politics, sociology, philosophy, religion, and even the exact sciences like physics and math which when transmitted through art could possibly alter a viewer’s perception on life. Learning technique is to master your medium for the most effective transmission of thought. To tie these together in formal art training I think is a tremendous advantage for an artist.
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