Today we’d like to introduce you to Umar Malik.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up in a small suburb in New Jersey, where everything was normal or at least what I thought normal was at the time. It was an environment where everyone just did what they were supposed to do. Go to school, get a job, get married, and so on. It was a cozy bubble that gave me the opportunity to grow up in a comfortable environment, but in the back of my mind, there was always something yearning for more.
Films were always an escape to a world that had no boundaries, to a place where you can dream to be anything you wanted to be and then actually fulfill those dreams. As a young boy, I would get lost in the adventure, conjuring up my own stories in my head. My own adventures and characters that I thought, at the time, were only possible on the screen. My love for film eventually, in a manner that I can’t yet explain, led me to go to school for film and then eventually ending up in Los Angeles. Where I would learn that the stories I use to dream up as a child were not only images that I could put on screen but also a life that I could live myself every day. I could be whoever I wanted and make my own adventure and help others along the way looking to find themselves and the road they wish to travel. Through art and life, I can create my own world where nothing is impossible and anybody can be who they want to be.
Please tell us about your artwork.
I realized not too long ago that the stories that I’ve always told have always had consistent themes. I was always drawn to the bigger ideas of purpose and what it means to be human and I realized that it was my own search for these questions in my own life that drove me to explore them. Through a long and grueling time in my life, I realized that my identity was the thing that I had been fighting my entire life. The idea of what I was supposed to be versus who I actually am. All these larger abstract questions came down to the one question. Who am I?
I feel most people ask themselves that question at some point in their lives, but few ever truly find the answer to it. It can all feel nebulous and confusing and kinda pretentious but I think it’s the key to living a fulfilling life. That is what I wish to inspire in people, to first ask the question and then know that there is an answer if your willing to find it. Everyone has their own story and those are the stories I’m interested in telling. How different people in different situations must go to hell and back to find their unique identity. When the world is telling them they’re supposed to go left and you’ve been conditioned to only go left, how do you find the power to be true to yourself. Say NO. And go right. It is something I still struggle with and I hope through my films or whatever I do in the future, it will not only help me but help others as well to be who they are. To find their identity.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
I always use to equate happiness with success but I think it’s more about being at peace when good things happen or bad things happen. But success looks different for everyone. It kinda goes back to what I said previously, my idea of success won’t be anybody else’s idea of success. I don’t think there is any specific quality or characteristic that defines it. Success is whatever you want it to be, but I do think that all success does come from within. Getting recognition or making money or winning an award can be great but at the end of the day, those are all just things that happen and then they’re done. I think a better measure is what happens during the moments in between the money and awards and whatever. Are you at peace in those moments or are you not? And what does that mean in terms of your personal success?
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Coming to a theater near you!! Or just check out my Instagram, that’s going to start being populated with some exciting stuff!
Contact Info:
- Email: maliku913@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialumarmalik/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=836140276
Image Credit:
Kevin Seo
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