Conversations with Shadia Ghantous

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shadia Ghantous.

Hi Shadia, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have been a professional artist / life model, in the figurative arts, for almost 24 years now. When people ask me what I do for a living, it’s always hard to describe the full extend of what it means to be an art/ life model. I do have some conflicting feelings about the term “ muse” to describe my current line of work. I think of myself more as a storyteller; collaborating with other artists, bringing stories and characters to life. I do this through multiple mediums, such as acting, photography, and fine art. I started working in the fine art medium, back in my hometown, Peoria Illinois, when I was a teenager. I had no intentions of ever doing this line of work full time, and didn’t know much about figurative art back then. I had been drawing since as young as I could remember, but I mostly did portraits. An artist in my hometown, also knew that I was pursuing modeling, so he asked if I would pose for some of his art classes. That turned into posing for my college art classes as well, and it’s kept evolving over the many years. While posing during my college years in Peoria, I had only met one other female figurative model, one time. So, as far as I knew, I was the only female art model, along with one other male model friend at that time. I faced some personal issues, and negative stigma for my job / passion, from some people in town, and from my family. “But I am very glad that I didn’t let it stop my journey; my art has led me to experience some incredible things in my life, albeit with some hardships along the way.”
While my journey, and personal relationship with art is significant, fine art was just a part time thing for me, and just one of many hats that I wore back then. I played on a tennis team for years, danced on a dance team for years, while being very active in theatre. When college came along, I decided to major in my true passion of acting. Acting is my first love, ever since my first performance at age 5, when I played Rumpelstiltskin‘a shadow. Shadow happens to be my childhood nickname, so I feel that first role was kismet, and a catalyst for the passion that would drive me in my life. I was fortunate enough to receive a full ride scholarship for theatre, and an additional scholarship for writing. Winning poetry awards throughout my life turns out to be excellent training for becoming a proud purveyor of run-on sentences, which I hope you’re thoroughly enjoying experiencing firsthand haha.
Unfortunately, during college, my mother had become very ill, and we were unsure as to whether or not she would recover. So my family made the decision for me to drop my full ride scholarship, and pursue something that they felt would be a more realistic source of steady income, in case I was put in a position to have to take care of myself, and my younger brother. My family pushed for me to become a licensed cosmetologist instead, and I worked as a hairstylist, around the clock, for years, while continuing to model on the side. While I was very good at doing hair, I honestly had no love for it, and it just left me with a chip on my shoulder.

I eventually chose to leave my hometown, I moved to Chicago, to work on building my portfolio, and pursue professional modeling, despite my family’s opposition to it. I got signed to a commercial modeling agency while also continuing to pose for more artists, in the side. I had picked up steady day jobs, such as doing makeup/ skincare, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to juggle, and choose between conflicting schedules with my modeling bookings and my day job.
I didn’t have time for acting anymore in Chicago, but as a model, I still had my stage. And my stage was, as it’s still is, my sanctuary. My poses are different characters that I embody, different stories that I tell, and emotions that I evoke. My foundation of acting, along with being a portrait artist myself, became something that made my place in this industry, something quite special and unique. But I still didn’t feel fully confident in knowing what my melting pot of passions and talents would form into, that would make for a solid source of income, and a respectable, professional identity.

After a few years in Chicago, I again, came to a crossroads of not knowing where I wanted my career path to take me. This was all before social media was really a big thing, and I was wondering how my acting background, my modeling work, and my license in hair / makeup, was ever going to turn into a clear, concrete career. I felt a bit lost, with just my talents and passion for my creative arts, but really not much direction at all. Due to societal and familial pressures, I compared myself, and my not so linear path, to that of my peers, who had all been finishing up college, starting families, etc, I decided on trying to make a move to either New York or Los Angeles, and see where one of those roads would take me.
I went to New York first, during fashion week, and lived in a model apartment with 10 other models. It was definitely a learning experience, that taught me a lot about modeling – it taught me that the New York scene is not for me at all haha. The other models in the house had all informed me that the LA modeling market was a much better fit for me.
I then aimed for LA, and I contacted a photographer, based in California, that I admired on social media. I said I have a concept in mind, and he responded saying that if I flew out here, he would shoot my concept with me. So I flew out to California for the first time, and I had booked my trip solid with photo shoots.
I was still trying to decide on whether or not I would move to LA during my work trip here.
On a day off from my shoots, a friend who had moved here from my hometown, took me to Joshua Tree for the first time. I had never even seen a mountain before, but being a big geology buff; seeing any mountain was on my bucket list. I was in shock when I saw the surreal landscape of Joshua Tree. It honestly changed me that day, when I saw my first sunset at Joshua tree, that night, i decide to move to LA permanently. I knew I absolutely had to live in a place where I am able to see environments in nature, like this, when I want. A few months after my trip, I made the official move to LA on Sept 23rd, and drove right into my first day of work, that same day. I’ve been grinding ever since day 1.
I continue to grow in love with California for so many reasons.
This place really is magic, especially for artists – where we all just come here to share ideas, and play together / creating amazing things along the way. But I always say that even though LA is magic, all magic comes with a price. It’s not easy to be a full time artist out here.

I initially moved here to pursue acting, while taking on some side gifs doing figurative art-modeling. I never expected that one gig at an open drawing workshop, would ignite in the way that it did. If you asked me a decade ago, what I thought I’d be doing, I never would have imagined that I would become a full time art- model, and completely immersed in the fine art world. But that’s what happened. I could written an entire book on what this lifestyle entails, and all of the surreal layers that I’ve had to navigate every day in this line of work. I am beyond blessed to be able to live the kind of life that I live. One of my theatre teachers in college said something that stuck with me. He said “ this is the life we chose”. And I remind myself of that, when I let stressors take me out of my present blessings of being able to turn passions into paychecks.

It’s been the most wild ride. I joke that LA will chew you up, and it’s not even kind enough to spit you out – it just keeps chewing haha. Being in the arts / entertainment of any kind out here is not for the weak by any means. And I truly believe that LA is meant for people who really love it. While it’s absolutely a love / hate relationship for me – I am one of the people that is truly in love with LA. I consider this place home, and LA has given me a life that feels surreal – a life that many people can only imagine living. I have been beyond blessed to work in film / television, animation studios, and art sessions all over Los Angeles. I’m fortunate to have had collaborations with some of the most brilliant talents, and truly legendary artists I have could ever come across. I get to dress up in costumes, and play make- believe with others. It’s all really just play, and I’m lucky enough, and brave enough, to have cracked that code. Don’t get me wrong, some of my biggest rock bottoms have been out here – countless moments where I didn’t know where my next dollar would come from, finding myself without housing, at the time the last member of my immediate family had passed away, and doing a regular dance with my existential crisis demons. The realities of daily life as an artist out here can very easily crush the spirt. I got close to having to move back to Illinois and risk losing everything that I had worked to build out here. But I learned to ask for help, and I was so moved by the art community out here – and how they helped me to get solid ground back under my feet. The generosity from this art community kept me afloat and my model stage has saved my life countless times. I’ve gone through the hardest battles, and stepped onstage, in a room full of artists, and let it all come out through movements. That energy exchange kept me alive, and I’m grateful for my marriage to my craft. In regards to my craft; like with any relationship- there are days when you hate it, want a separation, and days when you fall in love with it all over again. It’s a true love that’s always there for me if, and when I need it. I’m currently in another one of my beloved existential crisis modes haha, but this time, I get to officially upgrade to “mid-life crisis” mode. Good thing i live in the perfect place to re-invent myself.
Currently, I have been working for years on developing my own art brand called XADOBOX ( shadowbox ) – with the name being an homage to my childhood nickname and the role that started it all for me. My goal for XADOBOX is to have my own creative space / art studio, that provides an immersive drawing experience, that deals with the “shadow”aspects of the human psyche, and bridges the gap between model and artist. Starting XADOBOX was a goal that I had shared with my mother for years after my move out here. As much as I want to make that dream even more of a reality, and even though it’s right here at my fingertips – if I’m being totally honest, I don’t know if I want it anymore. That can feel incredibly jolting to my identity and the name that I’ve built for myself and attached myself to, in this industry. I still plan to keep my goals of XADOBOX to a degree, but I think I really would regret not putting my talents and passions back into my very first love of acting, and comedy. I want to get back to my love of drawing, rather than posing. I miss making my own art, instead of making others artistic visions happen.
It’s amazing knowing I always have my fine art to fall back on if I need it, and I am very confident in my talents, as far as what I bring to the art- modeling world. But what kind of artist would I really be if I didn’t allow myself to indulge in other art mediums and wear a different hat from time to time?
As an artist, I have the freedom to reinvent at any time I choose to. And I know firsthand that it is not easy to do that. But it’s very possible and luckily I’m in the land of many people dancing between their dreams like I am. I know it’s unpopular opinion to think and operate under not knowing what the very next steps are, but I’ve never really been 100% tied to a concrete path / plan, and I’ve made my next step up, as I go, most of the time. That is very scary route to take, especially when your peers have kids, mortgages, and retirement plans. But I really do believe that we are mostly all just making this up as we go. And one thing that I’ve been humbled enough to learn, is that there aren’t as many rules as we think that there are, as long as you’re doing your best not to hurt yourself, or others in the process. With that being said – I try to use my platforms to also advocate for the freedom of animals & I hope my voice on social media can help influence my audience to join the fight for animal rights. I wouldn’t feel right, if I didn’t use this opportunity to remind people, that when it comes to animals, we were meant to be their protectors, not their predators. We are desensitized to it, but there are so many art mediums of creative expression, where animals are harmed in the process, such as beauty and fashion. I hope that whatever medium I work in, I can use my voice in creative ways, to continue to bring awareness to those issues, and bring justice for the innocent animals, even if it’s inspiring a model to say no when asked to wear leather for a shoot, or turn down a commercial for endorsing a product that tests on animals. If my work can impact even one person in that direction, then I’m happy.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As I had stated, when I first started life modeling in my hometown, I faced a lot of stigma against it, from people in town, and especially from my family. Having grown up, being the first generation born in America, from a Middle Eastern household- posing nude often, in rooms full of people, was not in the cards for what my family had imagined for me, my job, and future. Who I naturally was / and am as a person, caused a lot of turmoil in my family. It had even gotten to the point, when my family had discovered that I posed without clothes for artists, they told me that they no longer wanted contact with me, and wanted me to use a different name, to prevent shaming our family name, and embarrassing them further. Being the only artist in the family, and choosing that specific line of work, was and has been a very dark, isolating, and layered journey with myself. My family begged me to stop art modeling constantly, warning me that it was going to destroy my future, and prevent me from having a family. And I’d be lying if I said those intrusive thoughts don’t pop back up from time to time. But then I remember a time when I knew my mom felt proud of my job. My mother was a big Simpsons fan, and I got booked to model for the artists at the Simpsons animation studio, and I cousin wait to surprise my mom with that news. She had always voiced so much embarrassment and shame for what I do, but when I sent her photos from inside the animation studio, I’ll never forget when she said “ wow, how cool is that?!” That memory and that feeling replay in my mind when I’m question myself. I tell myself “ how cool is that?!” Hearing the pride in her voice made it worth it for me. I tap into that memory when I sometimes question the value of what I do.

However, I do wonder what my life would look like if I had been able to finish college on scholarship, free from hardship. Back then, I was trying to balance school with my passion for acting, but life got in the way. First, during two different semesters years apart, my father passed away, and then my grandfather passed away right during finals. Later, my mother fell suddenly ill—and though she eventually recovered, it was the breaking point that forced me to leave school. If things had been different, would I have even pursued modeling? Or would I have dived headfirst into acting and just kept modeling as a side hobby? I honestly hope and have faith, that I’ll be able to discover how rewarding it is to be acting full time while modeling part time one day.

I also grew up being very religious. Paired with my family’s culture, this made me question myself constantly, since who I am as a person was inherently the opposite of who I was told I had to be. I was raised within two deeply conflicting cultures and realities. Because no one in my town was doing what I did at the time, I lacked a mentor to look up to. I was mostly self-taught—and in many ways, self-raised. I had to figure it out alone. This lifestyle can be a very misunderstood and isolating one, regardless of where you live in America, and even within your own industry.

Something that isn’t talked about much, is how our lifestyle, and stigmas attached to it, make it difficult to find secure romantic partnerships, and work relationships. The concept of “muse”, in my experience, has led to being simultaneously glorified and dehumanized. Seen as something, rather than someone. Often getting treated as an art prop, and being placed in situations, where you have to unfairly advocate for basic respect. When you expose yourself, and your body to people, you meet a persons true character much faster than you might in other lines of work. What I do for work, is an extremely vulnerable position to place myself in, almost every day. I was much more naive a decade ago, and unfortunately, due to the shortcomings of others, when placed in the company of a fully exposed female, I’ve learned the realities of what people are capable of doing with that position. Unfortunately, even as far back as college, I experienced sexual harassment and assault from men in power who were close to both my job and my classrooms. I wish I could say that it is no longer an issue, but again, there are professional caveats that I still face from time to time.

Some of the obstacles we face are also rooted in daily life securities, or lack thereof. It’s hard to regulate art, and we don’t get the same benefits other jobs and lifestyles offer; it’s always wavering in many ways. So, that lack of stability in the arts can make the other adult aspects of life that much harder. Art models are athletes of the art world. Our bodies are our medium, tool, and instrument. We work our bodies very hard and often experience injuries, but we don’t have proper access to healthcare due to the lack of health benefits our jobs offer. Because art models mostly work with cash, taxes can get tricky. Even something like applying for housing can get very stressful and scary since there’s rarely a paper trail or steady source of income for freelance artists.

A few years ago, my mother had one of the rarest strokes in the world—’locked-in syndrome’—and went into a coma for a long time. At that same time, my apartment flooded, exposing mold and suddenly leaving me without housing. Even though I was working full-time all year, I didn’t have the paper trail to provide proof of a steady income since I worked mostly as a professional art model. My mother eventually passed away while I was still struggling to find a place to live. Since I no longer had family alive to turn to, it was the love and support of my art community that kept me afloat, offering me temporary rooms and couches until I was able to get on my feet again, or just even texting me regularly, to check in and make sure I knew that someone cared to listen. That love is what makes art.

Trying to work and build my career while simultaneously grieving the loss of my mother and dealing with housing insecurity became overwhelming, to say the least. I felt like I had hit rock bottom out here in LA. Everyone encouraged me to leave and move back to my hometown, but I worked way too hard to be here. I call this place my home, despite all of the massive hurdles, and I was determined to stick it out.
I almost reached a breaking point where I gave myself a strict deadline to find housing. Just two days before that deadline, I was approved for a place. That was my sign to keep going. I’m still here, so I know I’m doing something right by trusting my intuition.

In my years of experience, feel that empathy is the core foundation of art. I am extremely empathetic, and I lead with that. Whatever births from that empathy in an artistic sense, is what has gotten me the respect I have gained in my industry. I’ve also learned how many artists we admire, lack empathy entirely and get by on artistic skill. A challenge in this industry, is sometimes getting too close to an artist and trusting the wrong person with your vulnerability. I was reminded of this reality, in my last relationship with an artist, which started off as a beautiful work collaboration, with an artist I admired, and became something very abusive, that I had to unfortunately survive – it taught me that if you use art to hurt someone, then you’re not an artist at all. They’re only skilled at cosplaying as an artist, with a well crafted, and beautifully decorated weapon. Our art history books even show that. Art was meant to heal the world, and I think the healer in me, stays in love with art for that reason. Now, along with empathy, I also lead with discernment. I’m working on rebuilding my motivation and trust in my work again, after that relationship impacted my work heavily, and torn away at a love and trust that I held for the craft. I hope this article can be a reminder to models / artists, that it is vital to keep our work as pure as we can, and a safe environment, so that we can create happily, collaborate freely, and remain authentically in love with our craft.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m sure that I could write a book on my feelings regarding the term “muse”. I know for most people, it’s a very positive word to give a universal description of what an art model is to an artist. It’s a traditional name given to our job title. And I know to many people, it’s just semantics. But as you may have already gathered, I have some pointed feelings about its usage. I personally do not resonate with “muse”. I feel it’s outdated, and has left little room for evolution in its medium, unlike the evolution for a painter, or sculptor. We receive verbal accolades, and I don’t take that for granted – I appreciate being appreciated. But how often do you look at a beautiful piece of art, and can easily know / find out the name of the artist ? But how often do we know who the person in the painting was? What was the history of the woman that was sculpted? We know of some, but most of the time, the models name, and the history of the model, is unknown. We are often used as a prop for a piece, a still life, “the inspiration”. I can’t tell you how often, during work breaks, when I’m not posing, I have a little space for my things, and a chair, inside of a prop closet – taking a 5 minute rest for my body, surrounded by random fruit bowls, fake flowers, and mounds of fabric shoved into boxes. Just another prop for inspiration.

So let’s remove the word “muse”, and look at what the model does in fact bring to the stage :
They are makeup artists, costume designers, set designers, concept / character creators, prop makers, actors, athletes, storytellers, etc. and in my experience, those inspiring talents get overlooked under the job title.

When I go into a museum, or art gallery – I see it from a different side. How long did that person in the painting hold that pose? What kind of day were they having while posing, and what were they thinking? Did their back hurt, or their hips hurt while holding the contrapposto pose ? Did they get paid for their work, and what did they do for work when they weren’t posing ? When I posed for sculpture in Rome many years ago, I was fortunate enough to see Bernini sculptures up close. I learned that Bernini also wrote plays, and that many of the artists that helped me sculpt his pieces, also had to double as actors for his plays. I find those details fascinating. Maybe the model is also a brilliant painter, but is only known as a muse for painters.

Something that sticks out to me, and has happened countless times throughout my career, is when at artist, who has been drawing / painting me for years, finds out that I also draw models too. It never fails , they say “ oh I didn’t know that you were an artist too”.
I know they never mean anything bad by it, but it happened so much, that it started to highlight how artists view models in contrast to themselves. The unintentional disconnect that they don’t even realize is taking place. The artist may have been drawing me for years, and appreciating every pose to the fullest, but completely mis that my poses are my art. Every pose I strike is my own drawing I’m creating. I always think in response “ what do you think I’m doing up here, if you don’t think it’s art?” Of course I’m an artist too haha. My body is my medium, the way paint is a medium for a painter. The stage is my canvas, or sketch paper. I typically strike the poses that I wish I was on the other side of the room drawing. That’s my cheat code to keep myself also inspired and entertained after all of these years.

It can be discouraging, as an artist myself, to not be also seen as an artist by other artists. That’s why I think the term “muse” is actually a disservice to the many talents models bring to the equation. And the way we are treated follows that mindset. We aren’t treated like artists.
As someone who drew others before modeling, discussing my work is always complicated. When asked about it for this article, I wasn’t sure how to answer. A major caveat of my job is that my work is entirely tied up in the work of others—to see what I do, you have to look at someone else’s art. I don’t have much personal work to show for myself yet, and I really want to change that.

That leads me to my personal, long standing goal, with my XADOBOX sessions : to bridge that gap between model and artist. For models to be seen as artists, and for artists to see the exchange as a collaborative process, rather than looking at a subject matter. I feel that will give our industry a mutual respect that we all deserve.
With the goal of collaboration as the driving force for my sessions, I create an immersive experience – incorporating the personal life experiences of the artist that is drawing / painting / sculpting. so we both have our stories that we are telling to each other, which is essentially what artists are doing in the first place. I want it to be a cathartic experience, where the artist that is modeling, is also gaining inspiration from the one drawing / painting. And given the name XADO(shadow)BOX – it can often deal with confronting the shadow aspects within us. Most artists are creating to express their thoughts and emotions , that deal with emotional weight, and their art provides a safe space for what’s otherwise stored in the shadow self. It might be hard to fully explain , but you’ll just have to attend one of my sessions, to see what it fully entails. But I hope to provide a healing space, where artists and models both feel seen and connected. And I think it’s so vital to let the shadow sides breathe in a healthy way. Most art modeling session are geared toward the model being beautiful and a pleasant concept , but after so long, that’s such a surface story to be told. I want room for the other parts of what it means to be human – the parts that we hide in the shadows.
My mother was helping me to find a studio space, to host my sessions in, before she passed away, and I had since then, lost motivation to continue that search, until recently. I feel opportunities are presenting themselves, and in her way, she’s still helping me to reach that goal, in ways that I didn’t exactly plan for. And I can’t wait to see what births from this.

Other than my fine art, you can see my other forms of modeling in my collaborations with photographers. I have so much room to be seen as a creative equal in my photography modeling, and I think my work in front of the camera reflects that. One of my absolute favorite forms of performance art, is in collaborating with my incredibly talented friend, body painter Paul Roustan. I love getting to create with artists like him, becoming live, walking art, bringing people a new interaction with the human form / art, that they may have never been exposed to before – where I can tap into multiple mediums at once. That level of creation and collaboration can refuel the love I have for my work. Performance art as an actor and improv artist is something that brings me immense joy. Comedy—making people laugh onstage—is a natural high that is hard to describe in words, other than to say it is healing and euphoric.
I love working as a clown and a comedian. It’s no secret that I’ve faced a lot of tragedy, but I’m grateful that I value comedy in my life to balance it out; it truly saved my life. You can see the playfulness I’ve earned reflected in my modeling as I’ve gotten older and stopped taking life so seriously. I find great power in allowing ‘silly’ to step in front of the typical, heavy emphasis placed on being ‘sexy,’ and I’ve found that actually resonates with audiences much more. Especially, as I age, nude, and in front of countless eyes on me. Aging is already very complex in emotions, but doing it in such a highlighted, vulnerable way, can absolutely take a toll. Even though it’s completely human, and a absolute blessing to be given the gift of aging another day – the human side of it, comes with a lot of intrusive thoughts, no matter how solid your self love is. I find that embracing the seriousness of aging, and being playful with aging / changing, in front of the world, is an empowerment for women and a freedom from the beauty standards we have placed on us.

I also want to highlight one of my personal favorite forms of performance art that I do out here in LA. I’ve worked with an independently owned, professional Princess troupe called Fairytales and Heroes Entertainment — a group of immensely talented, driven, multifaceted women, who have become my best friends. I never would have expected this group to be one of my biggest sources of joy when I first applied to be a princess for private parties and public events.
But making fairytales come to life is an incredible feeling. It’s also very hard work when you’re interacting with magical little children and trying to convince them that you are, in fact, a real-life version of the character from their favorite movies haha! When I play the Mad Hatter or Maleficent, I think of how I used to watch these movies as a little kid, and how excited I would’ve been to know that one day I’d get to live out a surreal dream of transforming into these roles. And to also find genuine friendship, while working with truly phenomenal, inspiring women, is a bonus that I treasure.

You can see most of my “work” / professional play online via Instagram: @shadia_elise. Otherwise, I’m not tech-savvy at all, nor do I have the time to create the proper websites that I would ideally love to have available. But if someone wants a job creating those different platforms for me, the job is yours!

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I feel like my whole life has been risk-taking. Everything from leaving the rigid and oppressive expectations of my own family culture, to moving to places where I hardly knew anyone and had no game plan for my next steps. I was risking my reputation to start working nude online before it was the social norm we see today. I remember nervously posting artistic nudes on MySpace and Facebook when those platforms had just started becoming popular—back when seeing even an implied nude photo would shock people. Now, it’s every other post on Instagram. So I’m proud of myself, and I’m proud of women and art models in general, for helping to make that more of a norm and making it easier to give people permission to enjoy their bodies.
I believe figurative art is a necessary act of rebellion and a radical act of self-love—something natural that we have been denied throughout history. Nude art, the nude body, is a birthright. Like I used to tell my family: if being nude were truly sinful, we would have been born with clothes on. It is only a perverse mind that will see it as perversion. How someone perceives my expression of art and myself says more about them than it does about me, and I feel that my work unintentionally makes people confront those parts of themselves. There is a lot of risk in taking on that role.
I feel that continuing to pursue the unknown and getting a taste of the many different passions I crave—even when so many life obstacles tried to kill my spirit—makes my very existence that of a risk-taker. I’m grateful for that superpower that I was born with, and continue to cultivate. I have met a lot of people along the way who project their own doubts onto me, and nobody is as good at projecting those doubts onto me as I am myself, haha. But if I can push past my own doubts repeatedly and keep thriving out here, then I know I’m in good hands by trusting myself to create my next steps.
I know that I am very brave to take what life has challenged me with and alchemize it in a way that connects me to the people I cross paths with. But it’s very risky to be so open in a world that can take advantage of that openness. So, I am incredibly proud of myself for growing more and more authentic in who I am as an individual, learning what I’m capable of as an intelligent, strong, intuitive woman, and not being afraid to step into that power. I love that despite being in a world that thrives on dimming those with a bright inner light, I have remained a loving, good-intentioned person. Nobody can take away that self-love and confidence. That’s when risk-taking goes right.
With that being said, I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the artists I’ve crossed paths with and have had the honor of creating with in a safe, loving space. To the artists in my beautiful art community: you truly saved my life during the hardest time I have ever experienced. While I have been completely alone in most of the painful aspects of my personal and professional life, so many of you came together to make sure I wasn’t alone in every way. I don’t know if my art community will ever understand the extent to which they provided a stage that became my sanctuary. And many people wouldn’t know it, but there have been countless times that I didn’t want to be here anymore, and the stage kept me here another day. Regardless of where my path takes me next, I’m forever grateful for the artists and fellow models. I believe that some divine power, way back when I was a little girl, must have known I would stumble onto a path that would have my back one day when I really needed it. I get emotional when I think about it because even though I have lost my blood family, I was given a family through the artists. To any of those artists who get a chance to read this, thank you again for using art to help, connect, and heal ourselves along with others, just as art was intended to do.
When people ask me what kind of art I make, at the risk of sounding completely vain, I respond honestly by saying, “I am the art,” haha.

I guess we will have to catch up on a part 2 one day to find out what those next steps in my life ended up becoming. I just hope, whatever it is, my momma is proud, since she’s my motivation behind everything I do now.

Thank you for this opportunity to share my story, and for taking the time to learn a little bit more about me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @shadia_elise

Image Credits
Bodypaint : Paul Roustan